Final Fantasy 7: Resurrection
by Quinctia
Summary: The story centers around Raieyana, a 16 year old girl who was genetically engineered in a lab by Hojo, supposedly from the cells of Aeris Gainsborough and the Turk, Tseng Amine. Shinra has reformed, with a new president, and is after 6 orbs of White mater
1. Part 1: Wisps of Memory

Note: FF7 does not belong to me, it belongs to Squaresoft and all of its respective creators. All new characters, places, events, items, and nifty song lyrics and poetry are mine.

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Final Fantasy VII--Resurrection

By: Quinctia

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Part 1: Wisps of Memory

Prologue: Raieyana

I looked down at the band of comrades, as they made their way across the grassy plains. This was the same group I had seen my mother with before, the same group that I had been following since I had seen them in Nibelheim, while I was resting. But it has been weeks since I had seen my mother with this party, and I know it in my heart that she is dead. And it is with a bittersweet note that a remember my father's search that had lasted so long, in which I had succeeded, then failed.

My name is Raieyana. I am the daughter of Tseng Amine and Aeris Gainsborough. I know this sounds illogical, considering my mother is--was twenty-two, when I am sixteen. This would make Aeris only a young child when I was conceived. But I was produced in a lab, by Hojo of Shinra, perhaps in his quest for an Ancient that could withstand his grueling tests. For whatever reason, I came into being. According to my father, Hojo combined samples of his cells with those of Aeris, creating a child. Hojo did not even tell my father about this until I was at least six months old. With this new knowledge, my father smuggled me from the lab and brought me to my aunt Aula in Upper Junon, to be taken care of while he searched for Ifalna, and later, Aeris. I never really knew my father very well, although when I did see him, he was always surrounded by an aura of depression, desperation. He was sorry for what he had done, what Shinra had done, especially what Hojo had done. But he was too afraid to leave Shinra, too afraid for himself, maybe even for me. I remember finding him dying in the Temple of the Ancients. He told me not to worry...and that he loved me. He said he was sorry for anything he might have done to hurt me. I told him he had done nothing to me that he should be sorry for. I held his hand as he died. I heard his last words. _Find her...and stop Sephiroth._ And then I cried for the first time in a long while.

Sephiroth may be dead, but the Planet is not yet saved. I have a duty, a responsibility, to all those I hold dear to protect it from the danger that I know is now imminent. I cannot do it alone; I am the only one who can protect it, however. I must not fail, because there is no other person who possesses my knowledge of this crisis, or the solution. But getting allies is my first objective. This is my only thought as I walk down the hill towards the party.

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Chapter 1

It was two days after the death of Sephiroth and the destruction of Meteor by Holy. Cloud and the others were walking across the grassy plains towards Kalm. They were on foot, because the Airship had been left in Junon for repairs. They were going to see Elmyra, Aeris' adoptive mother, Marlene, and they were going to meet up with Reeve. Cait Sith was to officially retire. The sun was shining; birds were singing. Peace had finally come, or so it seemed.

Cloud saw a young girl of about sixteen or seventeen approaching them from the nearest ridge. He motioned towards the others to stop.

"What is it Cloud?" asked Tifa, watching him intently.

"Is it," whispered Red XIII, "no, it can't be..."

Cloud looked at her again as she came closer. (Same dark hair, same green eyes, Aeris' face...) But it was not Aeris. There was something different about this girl, not just the way her eyes and hair shone with a fire in the sunlight. She was carrying an adamantium staff and a small satchel. She slowed, because she had reached them.

"Are you...are you Cloud Strife?" she asked, with Aeris' voice. But hers was slightly different, the tone like as if she had never been happy--ever.

(How can she not be happy? The Planet is saved. Sephiroth is dead.) "Yes," he said, "that is my name." She looked him directly in the eyes.

"I have been following you," she said.

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"What?" asked Barret, outraged. But that was as far as he got. They were interrupted by the buzz of a helicopter and the whir of a Gelnika.

(Damn) thought Raieyana (I thought I had more time.) The others watched in amazement as the Turks descended from the helicopter on a ladder.

"What are you bozos doing here?" asked Elena.

"Notice how the Turks mysteriously reappear after both Sephiroth and Meteor have been destroyed," muttered Yuffie.

"You know what," said Elena, "this is not our purpose here, but I guess it's payback time for you guys doing in my boss."

"If you're talking about Tseng," said Raieyana, "you're sorely mistaking, because these people didn't kill him."

Elena snorted. "Scum like you are not worthy enough to speak the name of such a man."

Raieyana walked closer. "Like you ever knew him," she said.

Elena looked her over. "You are certainly not cultured enough to have been even an acquaintance of his," she retorted. She looked ready to fight.

Raieyana shook her head. (Oh dear. I've got to stop this thing with the irate blond chick with a thing for Dad right here and now.) "I'll tell you what, the next time a total stranger accuses equally total strangers of killing your father when you know Sephiroth did, then I will fight with you over this. But I think I have a little more knowledge of the event of my father's death than you do, so I would suggest you keep your mouth shut before you come off as an even bigger idiot than you already have." Raieyana didn't usually chew people out; she really tried not to let other people get to her. But Elena, thinking she knew it all about Tseng, really had gotten on her nerves.

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This little outburst of Raieyana's had everyone stunned, even the Turks. Yuffie's mouth was hanging open--wide. Vincent softly pushed her jaw up so it was closed again. "You don't have to thank me," he said, "trust me, I did it for my own benefit, not yours."

Reno stepped up and put a hand on Elena's shoulder. "Come on Elena," he said, "remember our orders--find the Hope and Renew materia orbs."

"What?" asked Raieyana.

"Look little girl, go home and play with your dollies. Come back when you're old enough to drive," said Reno.

What she said next wiped the smug smile right off of his face. "You can't possibly think that I'm not going to try and stop you every step of the way. I know what you're trying to do." At that particular moment, she really looked quite formidable.

Reno collected himself and raised an eyebrow. "Listen kid, stay out of our way, or you're going to get burned. C'mon Elena, Rude, let's go." They climbed back up the ladder into the chopper and took off, with the Gelnika following.

Cloud turned to Raieyana. "Tseng's your father?" Raieyana told them all about her life, from test tube to the present.

"I was following you because Aeris was with you," she said, "but then, you know. Now Shinra's up to something."

"We're on our way to Kalm," said Cloud, "why don't you join us, Raieyana?"

She shrugged. "Okay, I might as well."

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When they arrived at Kalm, Marlene was waiting there to greet them. "Papa!" she laughed as Barret lifted her up on his shoulder. Then Reeve came out of the house where Elmyra had been staying.

"Look," said Barret, "it's the Shinra manager. How's public relations goin' these days?"

"Barret, you know I quit," he said.

"Yeah, I do," said Barret. Then he laughed. "Just don't think of going back to those Shinra," he said, shaking his finger. Everyone laughed. There really weren't any hard feelings now.

Raieyana remained silent, thinking about a few things in a new light since their little encounter with the Turks. (In that brief moment, they gave me more information than they could have possibly realized. I never would have thought she would... Why would she...)

Elmyra came out onto the porch. "I've cooked a delicious dinner for everyone, so..."

"Whoo-hoo!" yelled Barret, "Chow time!"

He quickly followed her back into the house, while everyone else tried really hard not to laugh. That dinner was the best meal Raieyana had in a long time. (Elmyra sure knows how to cook. If only she didn't keep staring at me like I was a ghost...)

************

Elmyra invited everyone to stay the night, but Raieyana bowed out, opting to stay at the inn. So she left after dinner.

"Hey, guys," said Reeve to Cid and Vincent, "I'm going out for a cigarette." They barely looked up from their card game as he followed her out the door. "Wait up," he called, catching up with her. "We never got a chance to get properly introduced. I'm Reeve."

"And I'm not one for formal introductions. I'm Raieyana."

"Raieyana," he said, "look, I know you're planning on leaving tonight. The way you left Elmyra's, it was a little obvious."

"Well then, Reeve, you have great insight," she said, "but I have my reasons. I'll come back after I take care of a couple things. Just one thing, though--you or the others, don't any of you try to mess with the new Shinra president until I come back, okay?"

"Why?" he asked, intrigued.

She smiled. "Let's just say I have great insight, too. Good-night," she said.

Reeve watched her leave, then lit up that cigarette. He slowly walked back to Elmyra's, not noticing the full moon. It was blood-red.

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At about midnight, Raieyana prepared to leave. She pulled a dark cloak around her shoulders and left her room. Leaving her room key on the counter in the lobby, she walked out into the night.

Cloud was there, waiting for her. "So, why are you taking off?" he asked.

"Look," she said, "I've been following you for a long time. I need to go home."

"If you need to go to Junon, we're swinging back there in a few days, so..."

Raieyana stopped him. "No. I kind of have two homes. Junon is one and the other is...Undor-Hai."

"But that's just a legend," said Cloud.

"Maybe to you," said Raieyana, "but it is a very real place to me."

"I bet you also believe in witches and demons and monsters," he said.

"What do you call Sephiroth?" she asked, walking away, "I'll see you around." Cloud watched her leave and then he went back inside, also ignoring the scarlet moon.

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Chapter 2

Raieyana was at the trail to Undor-Hai, at the foot of Mount Crist. The Undorians, cautious of strangers, let few outsiders into their hidden land. But Raieyana and Aysta were allowed to live there, train, and learn. Raieyana had always wondered why she was able to easily enter such a secretive society. (Was it because I am an Ancient? Or because I have a few more Jenova cells than the average clone?) She started up the trail. (I've got to get Lia to clear this. But this is never easy anyway.) Raieyana had forgotten just how hard it was to get up to the top, especially crossing the gorge aptly nicknamed "The Bottomless Pit" using only a single rope for a bridge. But she made it to the top, finally.

"Welcome home, Ray," a slender blonde girl called.

(Lia) thought Raieyana. The nineteen-year-old leader of the Undorians ran up and gave her a hug.

"Oh, Ray, I've missed you so much. What's been going on out there? How's it been?"

"Lia," said Raieyana, "there's a big problem. I think Aysta's president of Shinra now."

"Aysta?" said Lia, "well, if she's the president, then there can be nothing wrong, right..."

Raieyana shook her head. "I would have thought that before. But I saw the Turks while going to Kalm. They were looking for White materia," she said, "and only one of us three would know about it and what it can do. The only one outside all this time? Aysta."

"Would she really use the Ancient translation against us?" asked Lia.

"I don't know," said Raieyana, "but I think she has her own objectives now. I think she's become the enemy. I think she wants to bring Sephiroth back. So I need to bring some people up here to equip them. We have the best weapons. There's eight in Cloud's party, and I'm going to get Ish and Blane--if I can--so ten, I guess."

"Ray," said Lia, "allowing outsiders here is not going to boost my approval rating with the people. But I will do what has to be done. We've translated a little more and we've completed the Evenstar. Aysta's not going to get very far. I only wish it wasn't one of us that was our adversary in this..." They walked towards Lia's house, planning.

************

Aysta sat in her office, staring at her computer monitor. (Where is that paragraph? Damn this word-processing program...deleted parts of the most important files...sure, leave the stupid Freecell "readme.txt" file intact, but anything of value, no, delete parts of it...)

"President?" Scarlet walked into the room.

Aysta looked up from the screen. "Yes," she said, irritated.

Scarlet handed her a picture of Raieyana. "While looking for the White materia, the Turks ran into Her. Reno says this girl threatened them and also said she was the daughter of the deceased Turk Tseng Amine."

Aysta sucked in her breath angrily.

"President?"

Aysta handed the picture back. "Put out a warrant with Soldier for the arrest of a certain Raieyana Amine. Spell it right. If she enters my Junon, I want to know and I want her here where I can see her with my own eyes."

"Yes, president." Scarlet left in a hurry.

The computer beeped. Aysta spun around to look at it. "The file has been salvaged" appeared on the screen. She clicked and the screen was filled with hundreds of pages of translation. Aysta hadn't left Undor-Hai empty-handed. She had taken her copy of the Resurrection texts with her. She leaned back in her chair, revealing a fine gold chain on which a Black materia hung. _Mutate--to change the physical thing, to alter the inner Lifeforce; to cause as great a damage as Meteor, if not greater because of its subtlety._

************

The entire group was arguing over what was to be done about Raieyana's disappearance.

"If she's not mature enough to stay with a party once she's joined it, then I say we forget about her," said Yuffie.

"Cloud," said Tifa, "with Shinra roaming around again, no one should be roaming around alone. We have to try and find her."

"I don't think she would have been so blunt about leaving if she didn't want us to follow her," said Reeve.

"So Red," said Cid, "where is the approximate location of this Unbor-Lai place?"

"Well," said Red XIII, "Undor-Hai is rumored to be near Mt. Crist, which forms part of the ridge beyond Midgar."

"I 'spose we could follow her," said Barret, "absolutely nothin' to lose in it, I guess, except for quality time with Marlene."

"Looking for an imaginary trail to an imaginary place is exactly what I like to do," said Yuffie, "I never wanted to see Wutai again, anyway."

So they went to look for Undor-Hai, with some of them cursing Raieyana in their heads.

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Raieyana left down the back trail for Junon, nearly encountering with Cloud and the others in their search for a trail. But she didn't notice them; they didn't notice Raieyana.

"Whoa, trail alert," said Yuffie.

"I'll be damned," said Cid.

"Well," said Cloud, "only one thing to do: head up the trail and hope they're friendly at this place." They started up the trail.

Suddenly a slender, blonde girl lept down from a tree above. "I would suggest," said Lia, "that you leave now. If you won't go peaceably, I'll have you know that there are fifty armed warriors hidden in the forest around you."

(A trap?) "Umm, we're looking for Raieyana," stammered Cloud, thinking of those fifty armed warriors.

"Wait a sec," said Lia, "what's your name?"

"Cloud Strife."

"Party of eight," said Lia, "well guess what. You're not under threat anymore. We've actually been kind of expecting you. You can follow me to Undor-Hai." She smiled at them. "Contrary to what you may believe, it does exist. Come and see the splendor of my city."

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When Cloud and the others arrived at Undor-Hai, they found it to be nothing like they had expected.

(Wow) thought Yuffie (houses in the trees. These people must be as agile as birds.)

Lia led them to the largest tree-house. "This is my house, and Ray's, too," she said, "come on up." She climbed up the rope ladder swiftly.

Reeve was first to follow. (If I die, there's always Cait Sith.)

Barret was a little embarrassed. (Why did I let the Shinra manager go first? I'm such a wimp.)

Eventually, though, everyone got up the ladder. Inside, the house was beautiful and surprisingly modern, with any convenience imaginable except electircity and Mako energy. "Look ma," said Cid, "no Mako."

Vincent slapped him on the back of the head. (I shouldn't have let him have that third beer. If no one watches out for his drinking, who will?)

Lia smiled. "We've never had Mako or electricity and probably never will. But it makes it so much more beautiful here than other places because the Lifeforce stays outside the houses, in the Planet, where it belongs."

"Are you Ancients?" asked Tifa.

"No," said Lia, "but we study them in great detail here. We've translated many of their texts and scrolls. Raieyana is our best translator, even better than Aysta."

"Who's Aysta?" asked Vincent.

"Ray will have to tell you that," said Lia, "but I should probably go get your weapons. But we can do that tomorrow, I guess."

"Ma'am," said Red XIII, "we have our weapons already."

Lia started to leave the room. "No, your new weapons. We have everything from sword and guns to...lances and ninja stars." And so Cloud and the others spent the night in the legendary sanctuary of Undor-Hai, sheltered between Mt.Crist and the sea.

************

Raieyana looked at the Shinra building in Junon. (They've added on to it) she realized (I wonder what else Aysta has done in my absence? What to do first? See Aunt Aula or storm the Shinra building? I'll go with door number 2.) She headed towards the entrance.

"I'm sorry, miss," said the Soldier guarding the entrance, "you can't come in here."

(What has she won? She has just won a...jack-ass. Yes, a bona fide jack-ass. Tell her what she could have had if she chose door number one, Al. _"A brand new Cadillac, and twenty-five thousand dollars in spending money for her seven-day cruise to the Bahamas..."_) "Why the hel--, I mean, why not?" she asked. (After all, I could have real, valid business here. Just because I haven't doesn't mean that I should be set apart from those who don't want to knock the whole damn thing down...)

"Because," the Soldier with the very familiar voice said, "Ray, it would be very dumb, with the warrant Aysta has out for you, to just go in and hand yourself over to her." He took off his helmet.

"I knew it was you the whole time, Ish," she said.

He closed his blue eyes, smoothed back his longish red hair, and laughed. "Sure you did, Ray," Ishmael said. "Well, let's just go to your aunt's house." He checked his watch. "It's my break, anyway."

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"Oh, Ray, it's good to have you home," said Aula, her eyes brimming with tears as she embraced her niece. "Unfortunately, however, you can't have your old room. I've been boarding some Soldiers here. Blane is one of them, but you don't know the other three."

Raieyana would have been surprised at learning Blane was a Soldier if Ishmael hadn't explained to her on the way over how Aysta had convinced them both to join. (It was supposed to be me, Ish, Blane, and Aysta--together forever. Yeah, right.)

"If you come upstairs," said Aula, "you can see Blane and the two guys. Denmae is working."

"There's a girl Soldier here? I've never seen a female Soldier before, Ish," said Raieyana as they went upstairs.

"You haven't seen Denmae," was all he said. They entered a room where three young men were playing cards.

"Hey Aula," said a brown eyed, dark haired Soldier of about eighteen--Blane, "and Ishmael, and...Ray?" He got up and hugged Raieyana.

"This is Ruther..." he said. A slim, dark-skinned man with a shaved head nodded.

"...and Legolas," finished Blane. A short muscular man with grey eyes and bleached-blond hair stood up.

"Pleased to meet you," he said, shaking Raieyana's hand.

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In two hours, it was like old times. Ishmael had to go back to his post, but Ruther, Legolas, and Raieyana were talking like old friends. "It just isn't right, Ray," said Blane, "Aysta's warrant and all. She's betrayed you, turned her back on the person who is practically her sister. And it's ruining Aula. Seeing her daughter backstab her own cousin who has done nothing wrong. You're not a criminal, Ray."

There was a pounding on the door. They could hear a gruff voice questioning Aula downstairs.

"Sergeant Michaels," said Ruther, "Raieyana, we have to get you out of here."

"I'll take her," said Blane, "you guys cover for us." He opened the window and started to climb out onto the fire escape. "Ray?! Come on! You're not going to prove anything by getting locked up."

"We're going to go get Ish, too, right?" she asked.

Blane nodded. "Ruther and Legolas will meet us outside of the city. And I guess they'll bring Denmae. Don't want to leave her to be interrogated by Michaels."

Raieyana climbed out the window. (I didn't expect to be running from my hometown the day I arrived. I guess sometimes things don't go as you planned, though.)

Chapter 3

The next day, Lia came with weapons for all of them. Tifa was studying the exquisite detailing on the Adamantium Claw, while Barret tried out his new Nuclear Reign, which not only shot out large bombs, but doubled as a short-range weapon. Red XIII was examining the capabilities of his Mars Clip, which always attacked with a Fire-Elemental combination. Yuffie received a set of six ninja stars and the Spiral Blade, which basically had a sharp, spiral blade. Cid got the Sepulchre Lance: plain and white, but contained a hidden chamber of poison released when an enemy is pierced with the point; Vincent received a pair of uzis. Cloud had a new sword, the Lowlellean, which had an astonishing eighteen materia slots and amazing attack power. Finally, Lia handed Reeve a pair of thick knives.

"That's all?" said Barret, "Hahahaha!"

Vincent promptly slapped him on the back of the head. (Am I the only one around here who doesn't drink?)

"Sure, these look like plain ordinary knives," said Lia, "but when you push a button on the handle, they emit a powerful poison. And it catches enemies off guard, because they really don't look like much of a threat, but in the hands of the well-trained fighter, these things can be more effective than a sword."

Reeve took the knives. "Did you choose these weapons for us?" he asked.

Lia shook her head. "No, Raieyana did."

Reeve examined the knives a little more closely. (She really does have great insight.)

"Why does Reeve get the cool weapons?" Yuffie whined, bringing on a slap on the back of the head from Vincent.

(She just has a bad attitude.) Vincent spent much of his time, in fact, contemplating Yuffie's bad attitude and how he could correct it. He had come up with nothing so far up to this point, besides the ambiguous concept of back-of-the-head-slapping. It wasn't working on Yuffie. Really hadn't worked on anyone at all, for that matter.

A young girl walked into the room. "Lia? Raieyana has come back...with a few friends. What should I do?" she asked.

"Send them up here, of course! And tell Ray we appreciate her taking her sweet time getting her butt back up here," said Lia.

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Blane and Ishmael received new-and-improved versions of their Soldier staples, but Lia had to go back to the stockroom for Ruther, Legolas, and Denmae. Denmae was a real enigma, with short strawberry-blonde hair and brown eyes so dark that they looked almost black. Lia returned with their weapons. "So Ray," she said, "have you told any of your friends why they are here? I'm sure they'd like to have a slight idea."

"Well," said Raieyana, "the first thing I need to do is notify everyone that Aysta is president of Shinra, Inc. I knew she'd been planning this for some time; she was trying to get to Rufus and I guess she convinced him to leave her the company in his will. The 'sleeping your way to the top'concept. I'm sure you're all familiar with how that works. He probably didn't think he was going to die for a while, so..."

"Wait a goddamn minute," said Cid, "who's Aysta?"

"Aysta is Aula's daughter, therefore, Ray's cousin as well," said Ishmael, "the four of us, Blane, Ray, Aysta, and myself, we all grew up together."

"Aysta, Lia, and I have been translating Ancient texts on Resurrection for some time now. It's probably not a coincidence that Shinra started looking for the White materia right after Aysta has, for all practical purposes, vanished. She always talked about taking over Shinra, doing some good, but I think she has her own plans to take care of now," said Raieyana.

"Resurrection?" said Cloud, "resurrect who?"

"Take a wild guess," said Raieyana.

"Not Seph..." said Red XIII.

Raieyana nodded. "Yes Sephiroth," she said, "and to do this, she needs the six White materia: Hope, Spirit, Renew, Holy, Mercy, and Faith. And she needs a Black materia."

"Meteor?" asked Tifa.

"No, not that. Mutate. But don't get me wrong, Mutate can be just as bad, or even worse if it's in the wrong hands. And it definitely is in the wrong hands," said Raieyana.

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"So what can we do about it?" asked Legolas.

Lia lifted up a large black sword with the stars and the moon etched on it. "Aysta never stuck around to finish the translation," she said, "otherwise she would have known exactly how we can stop her. We're not totally finished with the texts yet, but if we can't prevent her from getting the materia..." She handed the sword to Raieyana. "...we can prevent the Resurrection spell from completely working by destroying Mutate."

Raieyana displayed the materia slots. There were six in a star shape, all joined to one in the center. The six White materia surround Mutate.

Cloud looked at the Lowlellean, obviously dissatisfied. "Can I trade?" he said, "I want the better sword."

Raieyana said, "I'm sorry, but no. You see, I'm..."

"...the only one who knows how to use it," Cloud said with her mockingly. Vincent would have slapped him on the back of the head if he wasn't all the way across the room.

"So what are we gonna do about this?" asked Barret.

"Well," said Raieyana, "we could look for the White materia ourselves. After all, we all know where Holy is, right?" 

.

"Wait, wait, wait!" cried Yuffie, "before we decide to do anything, I'd just like to inform you all that we don't have our Airship!" Everyone stared at her. It was the most intelligent thing they had heard her say in two entire weeks.

Cloud groaned. "It's in Junon, for repairs."

"Six of us are wanted in Junon now," said Blane.

"And we can't be sure that Shinra hasn't taken claim of the Airship for themselves," said Reeve.

"So what are we going to do about my Airship?" asked Cid.

"Ishmael and Denmae still have their Soldier uniforms with them," said Raieyana, "and I suppose a couple more of us could go in disguise with them..."

"I nominate Raieyana and Reeve," said Red XIII.

"Why us?" they asked at the same time.

"Well," he continued, "Reeve grew up in Junon and so did you, Raieyana, so you probably know the best way to get to the airport inconspicuously. Any disguise stuff Raieyana has is probably for herself..."

"That's true," she said.

"...and if Reeve changed his outfit the slightest bit, no one would recognize him."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Reeve.

Red XIII shrugged, which looked very odd. "You're always wearing a business suit," he said, "if any of us passed you on the streets in, say a grunge/punk outfit, not a one of us would know it was you. No one."

"So," said Cid, lighting a new cigarette off of his old one, "we'll wait for you at Ft. Condor, while you..." He took a drag. "...go get my Airship and bring it back."

.

He flicked the old butt across the room. It landed on one of Lia's potted plants and caught it on fire. Lia ran hurriedly to another room and came back with a bucket full of water, which she dumped on the plant. "There goes any hope of tea for me this winter," she said.

"In my opinion, loss of tea isn't much of a loss," said Cloud, "maybe he did you a favor."

"You could have told me, Cloud, that you didn't like tea the last time you were at my house. I yelled at Shera and you don't even like tea?" Cid was rather angry.

"Umm," said Ishmael, "we're leaving now. Better be at Ft. Condor when we get the Airship."


	2. Part 2: As the Desert Rose Blooms

Part 2- As the Desert Rose Blooms

Chapter 4

Raieyana brushed her blond hair out of her eyes. (I hate wigs, and these contacts are getting painful.) She glanced at Reeve, who looked equally uncomfortable in his new grunge get-up. (No one could recognize that former businessman.) She giggled.

Reeve glared at her. "You look real stupid, too, Raieyana." (Bet you don't feel as stupid as me, though.)

"You're each a laugh riot-and-a-half," said Ishmael, "now don't call each other by names anymore. Ray's wanted, and so are Denmae and I for going AWOL."

.

They sneaked up towards the airport. "There's no ladder," exclaimed Denmae, "now what?"

Raieyana smiled and climbed up the anchoring rope hand-over-hand.

"Sure," yelled Ishmael, "no one will recognize you if you're doing that!"

She dropped down the ladder. "Hurry up, Ish. You're so slow."

When they were all on deck, Denmae said, "Okay, now who knows how to fly this thing?"

They all looked at Reeve. "Hey," he said, "I've never been on this thing before, either. In person, anyway..."

Raieyana ran to the controls. "Here goes... Denmae, go cut the rope. 1-2-3 takeoff!" The Airship dropped. Now it was hovering less than five feet above the ground.

"Here, I'll do it." Ishmael flew the Airship over Junon and landed at Ft. Condor where the others were waiting.

.

Vincent saw the Airship hovering over Ft. Condor. "Now to see Lucrecia...get Hope..." he whispered.

Yuffie slapped him on the back of the head. "I owed you one," she said.

He glared at her.

A ladder dropped down before them. Raieyana and Reeve came down, ripping off parts of their disguises. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

Vincent shrugged. "Barret and Cid are at the bar..."

"Go on up, you two," Raieyana said, "we'll get the others when we go to change out of these disguises. These contacts are killing me." And they went inside.

Yuffie crossed her arms and shook her head. "Being on this thing makes me so ill. I don't know why I had to open my big mouth and mention we didn't have the Airship anymore. I'm sooo idiotic. Gawd!" The last yell came as Vincent raised his hand to slap her. Yuffie flew up the ladder and promptly hid in the chocobo stable on the Airship.

.

When everyone had gotten on the Airship, they resumed the previous conversation about the White materia.

"Well, it's too late to start today. Darn. I know! Let's rest." Yuffie left on this pretense, and everyone ignored her, except for Vincent, who looked oddly aggravated.

"We need to get Holy, and possibly Hope..." Raieyana was saying, when Ruther interrupted her.

"What about the other four?" he asked.

"We should concentrate our efforts on those two, I think," she said.

Barret shook his head. "If there's fourteen of us, we can split into parties of..., umm...(never was too good at dividin'...)"

Raieyana solved his math dilemma. "Four parties of two and two parties of three," she said. "We'll just be too spread out. Together we stand, divided we..."

"...drink," Cid replied, and Vincent, well, slapped him on the back of the head.

"We never really decided how to go about getting the materia, either," Red XIII said.

"For once, Yuffie had a good idea," Tifa said, "I'm tired." She left the deck, followed by Barret, Cloud, Ruther, Denmae, and Cid, who left on various pretenses.

Ishmael said, "Maybe we should split up in more than two parties; time really isn't on our side, Ray." He exited, taking Blane, Ishmael, Red XIII and Vincent with him.

.

"Aren't you going to leave, too?" Raieyana asked Reeve, turning around and looking at the sky.

Reeve walked over to her. "Do you want me to?" he asked.

She looked worried. "I don't know what to do. They're all expecting me to come up with the answers because I kind of know what Aysta's doing." She sighed. (I wish he'd leave me alone to think.) But it looked like that was not going to happen.

"Do you know why Aysta's doing this?" Reeve asked.

She shook her head. "No...yes...it doesn't matter." She looked at him, and smiled. "I guess it does. Sure, I know, but I don't think anyone else needs to know."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"The reason why Aysta went psycho. Blane and Ish don't even know themselves, and they've been near her in Junon all this time..."

Reeve broke in unexpectedly. "Why do you call Ishmael 'Ish?'"

Raieyana was surprised. (That just came out of the blue.) "I don't know. He calls me Ray because he says Raieyana takes too long to say, so I gave him a nickname."

.

She glanced at the moon. (It isn't full anymore, so we'll have less light at night.) Raieyana was still of the belief that some evil things lurked out in the dark. Maybe not in closets, but definitely in the wilderness. (At least we're not on the ground.) She shivered, thinking about some of things that could be down there if Aysta had used Mutate.

Reeve looked at her. "Are you cold?" (Maybe I should offer her my jacket.) He had changed back into a business suit.

"No, that's alright," she said, unconsciously moving closer to him. They stood there, watching the night pass by.

Reeve slowly leaned down and kissed Raieyana. Then they both jerked apart as if by reflex. Reeve would have been bright red if it wasn't so dark. "I'm sorry, that was totally uncalled for..." (What were you thinking, Reeve! She's sixteen! That's a ten year difference.) His meaningless apology trailed off into the dark silence.

Raieyana tried to reassure him. "It's okay. Look, it's late. You should go to sleep."

"What about you?" Reeve asked. "You should go to sleep, too." (Because you're only sixteen...) His conscience was not going to let him off the hook, even if Raieyana was.

"I'll be fine," Raieyana was saying, "it's not like I ever get much sleep when I go to bed anyway. Good night." She turned around and looked at him.

"Good night," said Reeve, still embarrassed.

Then he left, and Raieyana was left by herself to think at last. But she only had one thing on her mind. (He's too old for you, Ray. Did you feel when he pulled away? That's when he remembered you were just a kid.) She was still looking to the sky when the sun arose the next morning.

************

Barret was the first to talk to Raieyana the next morning. (My head feels like hell... Mebbe I should have stopped after the fifth beer...) "Raieyana, I was thinking last night. We really shouldn't go off looking for that materia when we don't really know if Shinra has any of it. Wouldn't want to waste our time. So, it would probably be quicker in the long run if we split up to look for Shinra. We could go in like five groups of three or somethin'. Meet up at Rocket Town in three or four days."

She nodded. "That really is a good idea," she said, "and then we could go look for all the materia, together."

.

Suprisingly enough, everyone thought that this was a rather good idea. They started splitting up into groups. Something was bothering Reeve, though. (There's only fourteen of us. There'll be one group of two.)

Cid was going with Vincent, so Vincent could keep an eye on him. He was dragging along Yuffie for the same reason, so she could be under his watching eye. They were scoping Wutai, so Yuffie could visit home.

Ruther, Legolas, and Denmae knew each other the best, so they grouped and were going to stay on the continent.

Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII were going to see if Nibelheim was "still sane," and Barret, Blane, and Ishmael were heading north.

"That leaves you and Reeve, Ray," said Ishmael, "is that okay?" He would have switched groups in an instant if he knew how much the arrangement really bothered her.

"No," she said, "it's okay. Where should we go?"

Barret smiled. "Go to Costa Del Sol. Stay at our villa. Check out Gold Saucer. Give the Shinra manager a vacation."

(Three nights. With him. Alone at a resort. I barely survived one.) Raieyana smiled weakly. "Sure," she said.

"Allright," said Cid, "I'm dropping everyone off."

.

Chapter 5

('There'll never be anyone for me but you, Ray...' Why didn't I go with her?) Ishmael was being troubled by his memories.

"So Barret," asked Blane, "where to?"

Barret shrugged. "Dunno. Guess go to Icicle Inn to look for Shinra. Then go to Rocket Town."

They saw nothing. All in all, it was an uneventful four days excluding the fact that Ishmael and Blane had to carry a drunk Barret back to their hotel room from the bar every night.

************

Ruther, Denmae, and Legolas were sitting at the tavern in Kalm, when Sgt. Michaels walked in. Denmae shot a disparaging look at Ruther, who had convinced them they didn't need to be hiding.

Sgt. Michaels smiled coldly. "Well, Privates Randolph, Larsen, and Masterson," he said, nodding to Ruther, Denmae, and Legolas in turn. Several other Soldiers walked in. "Handcuff them and bring them back to Headquarters," Sgt. Michaels said.

Denmae tried reverse psychology. "Don't bother. We want you to take us away. In fact, we were sitting here just hoping you'd find us. It wasn't that hard. Maybe we should try again," she said. Two large Soldiers started leading her away.

Legolas shook his head. "Well, that didn't work."

They were flown in a Gelnika from Kalm and imprisoned in the nice, brand-new jail cells of the Shinra building.

************

Yuffie was arguing with her father. "But Dad," she said, "we still need the materia. In fact, we got to go find more and prevent the latest psycho Shinra president from destroying the world."

Godo wasn't budging. "You told me you were getting me the materia. Now hand it over."

Now Yuffie was really pissed off. (If he isn't just the most stubborn sonofa...) "Unless you want me to whoop your as--, I mean butt, again, you better just let it drop."

"You are NOT going to talk to me like that, young lady! Now..."

Godo was interrupted by Cid. "You know, Mr. Kisaragi, we really do need Yuffie's materia. And Yuffie, of course. (I guess...) We thought you'd understand. But, if you're really tight on funds, Vincent will give you a Master All."

Yuffie looked at Vincent, completely blown away.

He was, needless to say, less than willing to go through with this arrangement. (Well, Wutai is kinda hard up right now. I guess I could always master another one...) Vincent reached in his gun and gave Godo the Master All.

.

Godo bowed. "That was generous of you, my son."

Yuffie made a face. (Boy am I sick of this Kung-Fu mentor crap!)

He continued. "There are some Turks here. You might find out the information you require. However, I think they are on vacation. They were last seen at Turtles' Paradise."

Cid started to leave. "I've been craving a Turtle Daiquiri for the longest time..."

Vincent shook his head and followed after him.

Yuffie watched them leave, then turned around to face her father. "You know, Dad, it was sooo rude to accept that materia. We are on a battle to save the planet. You told me to use my strength and determination, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, and you're sitting here all ungrateful, demanding the materia when WE AREN'T DONE YET!" Her voice had risen nearly to a scream.

Vincent was standing in the doorway, amused. "Yuffie, are you coming already?"

Yuffie glared at her father and walked away, muttering. (You'll see if you'll get any respect from me anymore...damn selfish, conceited loser who's been pouting and hiding in this lousy pagoda just because he lost the stupid war. I guess I should repay Vincent. After all, my dad's being unreasonable. Like, it was sooo cool that Vincent gave up the materia, though, just to shut him up. I think I have a Level 3 All in my house. Maybe he'll want that.)

.

Cid, Vincent, and Yuffie walked into Turtles' Paradise and wound up almost face to face with Elena.

"Outta my way," she blurted. Honestly, she looked kind of frustrated.

"What's wrong with you, bitc--, umm, loser." Yuffie had barely calmed down enough to use that nice little euphemism.

"Not like you would care, but we've located one of the White materia here in Wutai. On Da-Chao, to be exact."

"What the hell, Elena?" Reno had just walked in. "Are you gonna tell them everything, like how Spirit is on Cactus Island?"

Elena stuttered. "Well, umm, but, you just..."

Reno turned pale when he realized what he had just said. "The hell I did Elena, /that was just to throw them off/," he whispered loudly. He looked at Yuffie and laughed nervously. "We'll just be going now, because we're on vacation," he said emphatically. Then they left in a rush.

.

Cid walked over to the bar. "I'll have one Turtle Daiquiri, extra stren---" Vincent had grabbed him by the collar and jerked him back over to where he and Yuffie were standing. "What was that for---"

Vincent was impatient. "We got to get the materia here, and we've got to get it NOW!"

"Really Vincent, you're such a drag," said Yuffie.

He glared at her.

"What is your problem, Vincent? There is no rush to find or search for this materia, because I know where it is."

Cid and Vincent stared at her.

She looked back and forth between the two of them. "I found it a couple of years ago, while going up to Da-Chao to meditate. I didn't remember until just now. I didn't think it was worth anything, because it was white. So I hid it on a very good spot on the mountain."

Vincent looked at her. "How good of a spot?" he asked.

Yuffie smiled. "I'll just have to show you, won't I?"

Vincent turned away, and blushed. (Why did she look at me like that?)

Cid walked over to the bar. "I'll have one Turtle Daiquiri, to go---"

Vincent grabbed him by the collar, and they headed towards Da-Chao.

.

They were standing on the highest pinnacle of Da-Chao, right in front of the face of one of the massive figures in the sculpture. "Where do we go from here?" Vincent asked.

Yuffie reached over to the right eyelid, and pushed it up, kind of like a pocket door. Inside of the "socket" of the eye, a White materia orb was fitted. She took out her pocket knife, wedged it against the materia, and pulled it out.

Cid looked extremely amazed. "How did you ever find that hiding spot?"

Yuffie shrugged. "It was a place they used to hide a materia during the war, as a last resort. You're cornered, lead them up here, they're so smug, pull out the hidden summoner, wham, bang, thank you Leviathon--they're gone."

Vincent silently laughed at the way she put it. (I wonder if she knows what she just said? Or maybe I only got that connotation because I'm the one having the problem. I'll just ignore her for awhile.)

She continued. "Of course, it only works once. Element of surprise and all that sort of crap. But the war ended, and the materia was removed, and now you guys and I are the only ones that know of the existence of this exceptionally cool hiding place."

.

"One would assume so, I guess, if one thought they were alone." Yuffie jumped and whirled around. Rude was standing there, hand outstretched.

She walked over to him. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. Geez, man, if you think I'm just gonna, like, hand it over, you are definitely a few eggs short of a dozen, if you know what I mean."

Elena walked over the peak. "If you do, though, kid, we may not have to kill you. We can just leave it at maimed seriously or disabled for life."

Vincent spoke out angrily. "If you challenge us, you will end up being the gimp."

Everyone cracked up, even the Turks.

Vincent put his head in his hands. (That decides it. I've been hanging around Yuffie way too long.)

"Alright kids, the variety show's over." Reno came over the top. "Give us Mercy or you will die a truly painful death."

"Sure," said Yuffie, "I'll give you mercy. I'll count to ten and if you leave I won't--oh, Mercy is the name of the materia." Both sides prepared for battle.

.

Yuffie opened things up with an Ice-All, Ice-Steal as Well combination. She got a Ziedrich from Rude, another Minerva Band from Elena, and some Electro-Mag rod thingy from Reno, which she promptly threw back. It hit him smack-dab in the middle of his forehead and he was down for the count, for the time-being, that is...

Elena cast Bolt on Yuffie, and Cid got her in the shoulder with the Sepulchre Lance. Vincent shot Rude in the leg. Rude punched Vincent and broke his nose. Blood started spurting out.

Yuffie turned around and glared at Rude. When Doom of the Living was over, he had a severe concussion, several broken limbs, and a jaw that just wouldn't go back into its original position.

Reno, now awake, electrocuted Yuffie with the Electro-Mag rod she was stupid enough to throw back. Cid caught a major artery on Reno's arm with the lance, so the Turks limped away, with Elena in the middle supporting the men.

"Don't you think for a moment we'll forget this," she yelled as they slowly went down Da-Chao.

Vincent cast Cure3 on Yuffie.

"You idiot," she said, sitting up. "You're still bleeding and you cure me? Tell him he's a fool," she said to Cid.

"You're a foo--" began Cid, but Yuffie cut him off.

"Fine, Vincent, I'll cure you." She cast Cure3 and his nose was back into position, completely healed. "Is it okay now?" she asked, concerned, looking him straight in the eye.

Vincent nodded. "It's nine fow...I mean, it's fine now," he stammered.

"Let's get down," said Cid.

.

Cid was sitting in Turtles' Paradise, finally having his Turtle Daiquiri.

Yuffie was debating whether ir not to give the Level 3 All to Vincent. She walked over to where he was standing, the fountain.

(Reminds me of Lucrecia's waterfall...) he thought.

"Vincent," said Yuffie, "It was real cool how you handled my dad, and gave him your own Master All."

Vincent waved his hand. "It was nothing. Just a material possession. In the end we are all nothing. Just lonely souls in the endlessly flowing Lifestream..."

Yuffie cut off his poetical lament. "I just want to, like, reimburse you for what you did. If anyone should be put out for my dad, it should be me. I'm responsible for what he does. Sometimes I feel like I'm the parent instead of him."

Vincent looked at her, wondering if she was serious or if she had somehow convinced the bartender to give her a drink.

"I want to give you an All. It's not mastered, but then, when it is, you'll get the new one from it, unlike an All that's just mastered and I hand it over and that's it..." Yuffie realized that she was rambling on and on and on, so she wisely shut up. (Gawd, why am I such a friggin' moron? Why can't I seem to say anything remotely intelligent in front of this man?)

Vincent shrugged. "Where is it?" he asked.

"Well," she said, "it's at my house, but I could go get it and bring it to you."

He shook his head. "That's okay. I'll just go with you. There's nothing in this bar to make me want to stay, not even the Turtle Daiquiris."

.

About an hour later, Cid looked around and noticed Vincent and Yuffie were gone. (They must've gotten, *urp*, sick of me drinkin' and gone to her house to play Turbo Grafx 16 or something.) He staggered to her house, and was just about to go in when he heard some, ahem, odd noises coming from the inside. He peered inside of window. (Isn't he gonna hurt her with that claw, now that she isn't wearing any clothes?) He slowly plodded back to the bar, and drank about 5 more daiquiris to erase the very strange scene from his memory.

.

Vincent woke up the next morning in Yuffie's bed, in Yuffie's shorts and nothing else. He carefully peeled them off with his one good hand and dressed back in his normal attire. (I don't seem to remember why I put those on, but I do remember putting them on. Oh God, I never wanted this to happen...)

For, of course, Yuffie was also in her bed, right next to where Vincent had been laying. She was covered up with a blanket, but she obviously wasn't wearing her shorts, if that was the only article of clothing missing. She woke up, groaning. (Oh my head... How did I hurt my head?)

Vincent looked at her. "You banged it against the wall, when, right after, umm..."

She closed her eyes and sank back onto the bed. (This has to be the dumbest thing I have ever done...) "Vincent, did I ever even give you that materia?"

Vincent shook his head, acting very sad.

"Ohmygod, I am such an IDIOT!"

They looked at each other, and burst out laughing.

"Uh, Yuffie?" Vincent said, "I think your shorts might be a little stretched out..."

They left, fully clothed, and rather guiltily, I might add, to find Cid. He was passed out at the bar. They shook him awake.

"Well," said Yuffie, "we didn't find out much news, but we have a White materia. Can we go to Rocket Town now?"

Cid shook his head. "Don't-know-my-head-hurts-Shera-hates-it-when-I-drink-where's-my-goddamn-tea?" He followed them, mumbling, back to the Airship, but they would keep him grounded until at least the next day, or the day after, or perhaps even...

************

Nibelheim was as lame as ever.

(At least there aren't any Sephiroth clones anymore) Cloud thought.

Red XIII sniffed the air and looked around. "This place always has a strange smell around it," he said.

Tifa sighed and looked around. "If there's going to be anyone anywhere around here, I have 1000 gil on the reactor..."

They headed towards Mt. Nibel. Cloud saw a something shiny on the ground. He picked it up. (A lousy Moogle Energy Bar wrapper.) He threw it back.

Tifa snatched it back off the ground. "Cloud," she said, exasperated, "two things: number one, if there's a wrapper on the ground, some one was here recently. That's a good sign. Number two, for the love of God, don't litter."

Cloud shrugged. "I had forgotten about your new little ecology kick." They continued on to the reactor.

.

Tifa shivered. (This place gives me the willies.) She looked down and saw the place where her father had died. (And for a good reason, too.)

They walked into the main part of the reactor, and saw Heidegger and Scarlet. Oddly enough, they were arguing over which type of chocobo races better: Black or Wonderful.

"Wonderfuls dash about as well as my dead grandmother," Scarlet was saying.

"Golds are the best of all," said Cloud softly.

They both turned around and looked at the trio as they entered the chamber. Heidegger snorted. "They probably think Jenova's still here."

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Not funny. So, what are you rejects doing in here? This reactor, may I remind you, is owned by Shinra, Inc. As the trespassers you are, we are allowed to have you removed--by force." Scarlet and Heidegger prepared for battle.

.

(Puh-lease!) Tifa cracked a cocky smile and put her hands on her hips. "Maybe if we had any time to spare on you bozos..."

Red XIII said, "We'll forget what you just said if you tell us your purpose here."

Scarlet walked towards him. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Cloud drew the Lowlellean and pointed it towards Heidegger.

"Well, umm, gee," he muttered.

Scarlet made a motion to move towards Cloud, but Tifa made a threatening gesture. "Allright, allright, enough already," Scarlet said, "we're here to find some lost files of Hojo's. They weren't in the mansion, so we thought they might be sealed in here. Where Jenova used to be."

Heidegger looked ready to bolt. "But this place is creepy, so we're leaving now, okay?"

Cloud let him and Scarlet walk away.

"Why would Hojo's papers be important?" Tifa asked.

Cloud shrugged. "Dunno."

Red XIII said, "Maybe Raieyana knows. She knew everything about the White materia, and she also knows Aysta. Real well, at that."

"Wait a minute," Tifa said, "this means we can't do much of anything until we meet back up in Rocket Town."

Cloud sighed. "I don't want to spend another minute here. No one will know if we get to Rocket Town a day or two early." So they left Nibelheim, relieved, and headed to Rocket Town.

.

Chapter 6

Raieyana had never been to Costa Del Sol before, except on her way somewhere else. (I have never gotten a chance to stay here for an extended period of time. And now I don't want to be here. This is way too difficult.)

Reeve smiled at her. "I haven't seen the villa in person before. We can stop in there first and get rid of our stuff. I remember how we used our collective money to buy this thing. 300,000 gil. Wow!"

Raieyana raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you got ripped off." They walked inside. She shook her head. "Not worth even 150 thousand."

Reeve silently walked to the side door, opened it, and walked out.

Raieyana followed him and gasped at what she saw. "An ocean view...I would pay 300,000 for the view alone."

He walked back into the villa. "Well, I can guarantee you that there aren't any Shinra in the villa. Maybe we should go look for them."

"Okay, Reeve, where do you suggest? The bar, the inn, or the beach? I can tell you one thing, you are not dressed for the beach."

"Hey," he said, "at least I always look pulled-together."

"And I don't?" She turned around, displaying her tasteful outfit of a long-skirted, dark blue dress and silver cardigan. She looked hot, well, to Reeve anyway.

(Gotta stop staring at her like that. But I just can't help myself, damn it.)

"So," said Raieyana, "I'll check the beach and you can check the inn and the bar, if you don't think you'd look too out of place."

.

Raieyana was reclining in a lounge chair on the beach. She scanned the shore. (No Shinra socialites here. Well, if Reeve doesn't find anyone, assuredly some of the others did. I hope no one found Aysta. That would not be a good thing at this stage of the game.) She saw Reeve walking towards her across the sand.

"Nothing, nothing, and nothing at the shop either. I stopped there because I needed some sunscreen."

(Well, his nose is getting kind of red. But I guess he knows that already.) "Look, Reeve, the sun's going down. We can spend the night here and go to Gold Saucer in the morning."

"Okay," he said, "do you have a Gold Card?"

"Gold...Card...?"

"Evidently you don't. Should we head over?"

Raieyana got up and they both walked to the villa.

.

Raieyana was looking around. (Two beds, good sign. In the same room, very bad sign. What to do, what to do...) "I'll sleep on one of the couches in the living room."

"Why?" Reeve asked.

"Well, uh," Raieyana muttered. (I don't want him to know that I'm thinking that he's thinking something when he's not thinking it and I'm just thinking it because I'm the only one with anything of the sort in my head.)

"Just...hey, Raieyana, if you're that uncomfortable, I'll go sleep on a couch." (Can she see it in my eyes? Is it that plain? Can't I just stop wanting her...) Reeve looked at her. (No, just not going to happen.)

"It's okay, Reeve. I'm just...being stupid." She laid down.

He cautiously climbed into the other bed. "I'm going to turn out the light, okay Ray..ana? (I almost called her Ray again because that's what I'm calling her in my head now!) Goodnight." He reached over and shut off the lamp.

"'Night, Reeve."

************

Raieyana was dreaming. She knew it, and she couldn't stop it. She'd been having this dream for years, and every once and awhile it would get a little more vivid. This was one of those times. She was standing in a dark cavern. Someone was with her, but there was no problem. (I know him, I trust him, I love him.) She was there for a purpose, but for some reason she was very sad. (I feel it coming, forboding, senselessly stumbling towards me. My destiny.) Her companion stepped in front of her. He raised a sword. (The Evenstar.) She felt the blade go through her chest, and she fell. The man stepped out of the shadows, and for the first time ever, she could see his face. (Reeve...)

************

Raieyana woke up covered in a cold sweat. (Oh God, no. It can't be.) But every feature of his face stood out in her mind like it did in the dream. She got up and walked over to where Reeve was sleeping. (He couldn't. He doesn't have the face of a killer.) She was trembling. She felt a tear slip down her cheek. (There's no malice in his eyes--there wasn't even any in the dream. Oh, I can't stay in here.) She walked out onto the balcony. She looked at the sky. (No moon. Meteor just made a mess out of everything.) Raieyana looked at the constellation right overhead. (The Judge. Why do you always look so menacing? I've done nothing, nothing. Nothing.) She opened the notebook she had carried out with her. (Translation, translation, where's the report? Ah, here.) She removed a thick booklet from one of its pockets. _Jenova: The Offspring Project._

.

[Day 35: Embryo split into two distinct halves. Both female, oddly, not identical. This may mean something...

Day 68: Female One showing characteristics dominantly of mother. Female Two showing characteristics of neither parent. Of course it is too early in development to categorize either...

Day 218: Female One ready to exit artificial womb. Female Two must be removed in the next day or so...

Post Script: No initial reaction to Jenova. Neither child looks like Sephiroth, although Female One has definitely inherited dominantly from the Ancient's genes. Told Tseng Amine the children were produced from him. Needed to get them away from the lab. I am expecting to see the girls again whenever my Reunion Theory is proved to be accurate...]

.

(I am so glad Dad told me Aysta was my sister before he died. Now I know for sure.) Raieyana bowed her head. The tears were coming down in a steady stream now. "Aeris could hear her mother, why can't I hear anyone? What, what am I supposed to do?" she whispered.

"Maybe you should tell someone what you know about all this mess."

She turned her head and saw Reeve. "I had a bad dream."

Reeve smiled, sat down next to her, and put his arm around her. "That can't be anything compared to what will happen if Aysta resurrects Sephiroth."

Raieyana sniffed. "I saw my own death. Every dream I've ever had before has come true, like a prophecy, except this one, but it's reoccurred since...a long time ago. It doesn't really matter much. Just shook me up a little. But if you want to know about Aysta...

.

__

"We grew up together. She was my cousin. My aunt's daughter. We were just like sisters. But you know that. Little did we know, we really were sisters. But I'm getting ahead of myself. When Hojo told Tseng I was his daughter, he lied. And not only that, Hojo told him Aysta was his daughter, too. Tseng gave Aysta to my aunt because she had lost her husband in the war as it was beginning and she had just had a miscarriage. So then she had a baby to love... He kept me, so Ifalna could raise me if she wanted to. But he never found her, so he had Aula raise me, too.

"When Aysta and I were older, we went to Undor-Hai for training. We learned things about the Ancients, how to translate their language. Then I started following you guys, in Nibelheim. I went to the mansion, and found this." She showed Reeve the report. "I found out who I really was. I didn't know any better, so I brought it to Aysta. She didn't seem to take it that hard. Then. I knew she was trying to get on the good side of Rufus. I didn't know she had started to use mind control on him. I didn't know that her plan to save the planet had changed into a plan for herself. Then everything changed.

"I never told Tseng that I wasn't really his daughter, that Sephiroth was my father. It would have been too much for him. He did tell me that Aysta and I were twins. So I knew she was the second one. I think Aula had her tattoo removed when she was little, but me..." She showed Reeve the blue tattoo "I" on the inside of her right wrist. "That's how I knew the report was about me. We both have Jenova in us, tons of Mako, too. I don't know how Aysta did it, but I almost died trying to avoid the Reunion. Things settled down after Sephiroth was defeated, and then I learned Aysta was the new president. We had translated Ancient texts at Undor-Hai. I never thought she would use them against me..."

.

Reeve looked at Raieyana. "Mind control? Can you?"

She looked away. "Well, kind of. I have a few times. But it never gave me any satisfaction. Aysta always seemed to enjoy it, getting other people to do things she wanted them to. I guess the combination of Jenova and Ancient produced someone adept at mind control. And the hypnosis we learned at Undor-Hai just makes it that much easier for her."

"Why didn't just tell us all this when you met us?" Reeve asked.

Raieyana looked at him. "Please don't be mad. I just didn't think any of you could have trusted me if you knew I was..." She lowered her voice. "...Sephiroth's child."

Reeve sighed. (How could she be...his daughter? And be like this?) "I understand why you did what you did."

"Do you think anyone else will?" she asked.

Reeve shrugged. "Maybe not. But then, maybe they don't know how hard it is for you." (Look at her, she's so upset. But we only know what Aysta's plan is because of her. She's too good for them to think...)

"Reeve, why wouldn't they understand? Sephiroth killed my mother, he killed Tseng, the man who really was a father to me, and Aysta wants to bring him back. Why would I ever want to..."

.

Reeve took her hand. "I don't think anyone's going to be that unreasonable," he said.

She shook her head. "But then again, why wouldn't they be unreasonable?"

"Look at me Raieyana, you have done nothing wrong. If they can't accept who you are, then you don't need them."

She sniffed. "I can't do it alone."

"You're not going to be alone." (I won't let you. Never.) He brushed a lock of hair from her face. He kissed her, and this time neither one of them pulled away. (_Only sixteen..._) Reeve quieted his conscience, and gave into his heart.

.

Chapter 7

Yuffie stunned all by handing over Mercy willingly. "I just can't do anything with it," she said.

Raieyana put it in one of the slots in the Evenstar.

"Just wonder why Shinra needs this report so bad," said Cloud.

"I think Raieyana has it," said Reeve quietly.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"So, why's it so special?"

Raieyana told her whole story, and exhibited her tattoo. They all looked at her in awe, except for Reeve.

"Sephiroth's..." whispered Cloud.

"That's what's wrong with Aysta," Raieyana said.

Barret stood up. "How the hell do you know it's not gonna happen to you!"

She stood up and faced him. "I don't! But I've stayed sane until now, at least."

"Well, what are we going to do about Ruther, Legolas, and Denmae?" Tifa asked.

"What about them?" asked Barret.

"In case you haven't noticed," said Tifa, "they're not here."

"When we were at Icicle Inn, we saw Soldiers looking for AWOLs. I just wouldn't have thought them to be stupid enough to get captured," said Blane.

Ishmael looked at Raieyana. "Denmae is on Aysta's good side, for one thing. She got promoted really fast. She might be able to get off. But that leaves Ruther and Legolas. Now, what to do about that, I don't know. Ray, do you have any ideas?"

"I think Aysta probably has complete control over Denmae now, because you said that they were in close contact."

"So what," Cid said, "are we just going to forget about them? Is Aysta's control so powerful?"

She shook her head. "No, I just think we're not going to get Denmae back at this point." Vincent asked her if she thought Denmae was a spy for Aysta. "I don't know. That might have been what she had in mind when she went with us. But we have to get Legolas and Ruther, before Aysta has a chance to do...anything. She might have had them for nearly four days now."

Cid started walking over to the Highwind. "So where we headed? Junon?"

Raieyana shrugged. "Junon is the best place of any."

************

"President?" Scarlet walked in to Aysta's office, leading Denmae. "On top of everything else, the Airship has been spotted at Ft. Condor."

Aysta's chair spun around to face her. "Good to know," she said, "now Scarlet, leave my friend here." She smiled at Denmae. "We have some catching up to do."

"Yes'm." Scarlet undid Denmae's handcuffs and left the room.

Aysta's smile had turned cruel. "Now what did you think you were doing, friend, leaving Junon, leaving me? It wasn't a very nice thing to do now, was it?" Her voice was bewitchingly sweet, like poisoned candy.

Denmae looked ashamed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking, Ays--"

"What were you thinking?" Aysta's yell rang through the room. "You went and joined with the enemy. Went AWOL from Soldier. Betrayed not only me, but everyone here in Junon. Did they tell you I was bad, did they tell you I was wrong, did they tell you I was the enemy? Who is your friend? Who has done so much for you? Who have you denied?"

Denmae started to cry. "You, Aysta. I am so horrible, so terrible, no punishment you have could be bad enough."

Aysta reclined in her chair. (Really, mind control is so boring.) "I think you've had punishment enough. As for your two companions, well, they have a little something special in store for them." She pushed a button on the intercom.

"Heidegger? Have you prepared the acid yet? Oh, another two hours? Well, that better be just as long as it takes or...uh-huh, okay, if it's to wait for the stronger stuff, I may be able to understand. But you know my compassion only lasts so long. Unless it is ready pretty damn fast...well, you get the picture. I don't want to be kept waiting any longer than necessary. Hurry, if you know what's good for you."

She looked at Denmae. "You will go down with me and see how I treat traitors that I don't know so well."

************

Raieyana looked over the edge of the deck of the Airship. She looked at Reeve. "I really don't want to parachute down there."

He hugged her. "Me either. Last time it was a stuffed body. I felt a little more comfortable then. But we can't risk getting caught walking in to Junon, now that our disguised selves are wanted for Airship theft."

Yuffie shrugged. "Anything to get off this Airship!"

Cloud walked over. "Are you guys ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," said Raieyana.

He looked over at Barret, Blane, Tifa, and Vincent, who were suiting up. "Remember, don't come down until thirty minutes after we do. We check top half, you check bottom."

Blane glared at him. "If you repeat those orders I've heard a million times already one more time, I swear to God you won't be saying much of anything again."

"Blane!" Raieyana just looked at him. "If you don't want these guys all to jump you, you better just shut your mouth. All right, let's just get this over with." (Since we have absolutely no idea how we're going to infiltrate the Shinra building.)

Ishmael walked over. "Here's all the passwords," he said. "Be careful, Ray."

"I will," she said, and they walked to the railing. "Here goes nothing."

They parachuted down into Upper Junon and landed in front of the weapons shop. They quickly went into an alley to get rid of the parachutes.

.

"So is that our plan?" Raieyana asked. "Use passwords, hope they work, find our friends, hope Aysta hasn't decided to torture them to a horrific death?"

Yuffie looked at her. "Better be ix-nay on the horrific death part. My stomach still hasn't settled yet. That would not be a good plan."

"Well," Cloud said, "besides that, it's all anyone could come up with. At least we have the passwords. We have Ishmael to thank for that."

"I think," said Reeve, "we should get going now. We have the top half of the building to search, right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yup, the others got the bottom."

.

(So we got in no problem, right? Why did we take the elevator?) Slowly moving to floor 35, Raieyana was musing in the elevator. (So Aysta, what floor is your torture chamber on? You never used to forgive anyone when you were little, why should than change now? The more the power, the worse the vengeance.) The last sentence repeated through her head like a mantra.

_Ding._

"Floor 35," Reeve joked, "silks and fine linen."

Cloud looked at him. "What was on floor 35 when you worked at Shinra, Reeve?"

"Oh, the Soldiers' quarters..." They were greeted by ten heavily armed guards. "ummm, guess it still is."

.

Yuffie jumped forward and immediately hit them with Slash-All. One of the Soldiers shot her in the arm. "Owww," she said.

Raieyana promptly started beating that one on the head with her staff.

(That looks pretty funny) Reeve thought. He suddenly found himself one-on-two. (But this is definitely not funny.) He clumsily drew his knives. He twirled them around in a strange pattern. One of the Soldiers stuck a sword in his leg.

Cloud cut off his head.

"Thanks, man," Reeve said.

Cloud shook his head. "Don't thank me yet." He started battling another one.

Yuffie cast Earth2. Two more dead. "Another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust, yeah!" A Soldier hit her on the head with the flat of his sword.

Raieyana pushed a button or her staff. Two star-shaped blades popped out of the ends. She cut off the heads of two more and started after a third. She jumped back as Reeve cast a blast of Fire2, and Soldier-boy went up in a puff of smoke. "Y'know, you could have told me you were gonna do that."

"Sorry, Ray, I was aiming for that one." He pointed to the one who was still beating Yuffie.

Raieyana shrugged and quickly slashed off the heads of the two that had tried to sneak up behind them.

Cloud walked up to the last one, who was still taking out his frustrations on Yuffie, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi," he said, the Soldier turned around, and then Cloud cut off his head.

Yuffie groaned. "Cure, anyone?"

Cloud cast White Wind.

Reeve looked at Raieyana. "Ray, you still got a cut, and it's bleeding." He reached up and touched her forehead.

She shrank back. "It's okay."

"I'll just cast Cure."

"Reeve, I'm fine." She headed toward the building directory.

.

"Well, guys, we have just been battling the force on the defense headquarters floor. According to this, we've knocked out 10 of the 15 officers stationed in this building. Oh yeah, and the jail is the entire 65th floor."

Cloud walked over. "Well, to the elevator."

"Just a sec," called Raieyana, as she attached a bandage from the first aid kit on the wall over the cut on her forehead.

"To floor 65," said Yuffie as they stepped into the elevator.

(_36...37...38..._why didn't the materia work on me? _43...44..45..._why does Reeve look so cute staring at the lighted up numbers like a little kid impatiently waiting for the right floor? _54...55...56..._how does my hair look?) Raieyana took out a mirror and checked her face. (Fighting is bad for my complexion.)

They stepped out onto floor 65. Everything was silent.

"Okay," whispered Cloud, "me and Yuffie go left, you guys go right. The ones who find them yell really loud. Got it?"

Raieyana and Reeve nodded.

"See ya guys, then."

.

Raieyana checked the first three cells on that side of the passageway. (Empty.) (Empty.) (Empty.)

Reeve was checking the other side of the corridor. (empty...empty...empty) "Ray, no one's in these."

"Here either," she said.

"Aww, too bad," a voice said. They both spun around and were face to face with six guards. Only two of them were officers, like the first ten, wearing cute little badges. Two guards reached out and grabbed Raieyana.

"Hey," said Reeve, "let her go."

One of the officers shook his head. "We were watching you guys on the closed-circuit television. We know you're a lame-ass when it comes to fighting and it's her that we need to keep an eye on. Besides, we have a little something special in mind for your friend." He reached over and caressed Raieyana's cheek. His hand moved slowly lower. "Hey, she might come out alive if she cooperates..."

Raieyana shrank back. "Don't touch me!" she said.

Reeve glared at him. "This is your last warning."

The officer walked up to him. "Don't you get it? We know what we want and we know we don't need to be afraid of you."

Reeve got a funny look in his eyes. Suddenly there was a flash of red all around him. The officer's throat was slashed within a second. Three guards rushed towards Reeve, leaving only two holding Raieyana.

She grabbed each of them and slammed their heads together. "Nighty-night," she said.

Meanwhile, Reeve, who had the other three killed, ran over and decapitated the two she had sent to slumber land. Then he calmed down. "What did I do?" he asked.

Raieyana shrugged. "Ummm, proved what a good fighter you are when you stop thinking quite so much?" Then she heard a soft sound. "Shhh," she said.

"Raieyana...over here...it's Ruther...cell B43."

She ran over and broke the padlock with one of the blades on the ends of her staff. Ruther looked pretty bad. He had a messy gash on his arm and one of his eyes had swollen shut.

"Legolas is next door, he's worse...hurry, they're going to do something to us."

She left and was back in about five minutes, supporting an ailing Legolas. "Reeve, go get Cloud and Yuffie. This is bad."

.

Everyone who had parachuted down was on the 65th floor. Blane looked at his two Soldier buddies. "You guys, we have to get them out of here."

Barret shook his head. "We're gonna go give those fuckin' Shinra what they deserve!"

Tifa tried to calm him down. "Look at them, Barret. You don't think they fed them here, do you? We have to go back with them now. And we better hope it's easy going getting out of here."

Cloud looked at the group. "Elevator?"

Vincent shrugged. "Might as well," he said.

"Wait!" said Yuffie. "What about Den-what's her name?"

Legolas groaned. "They separated us from Denmae right away. I don't know why..."

"_Aysta_..." Raieyana whispered.

Everyone stared at her.

"What?" she asked.

Blane pushed a button, and opened the doors of the elevator. "Let's get out of here and hope Denmae had an easy time with Aysta," he said.

************

"They what?" Aysta was this far from killing Heidegger then and there. "Killed twelve of my officers, took the two prisoners, and then left without a struggle? You better hope I'm hearing you wrong..."

Heidegger stuttered. "Aysta, I wasn't even here, Bruce was in charge, and now he's...well anyway, I just was out for dinner, and I come back, and they're all dead...please don't kill me, Aysta!"

(Blithering idiot! But I suppose he can't help it. Well, sweet sister, the showdown will be sooner than expected. And I'll have to use full force and pull out all the stops. And that means Ishmael and Blane, Raieyana. I bet you never thought they would be the ones to betray you. Well, maybe they wouldn't consciously choose to betray you, but then again, free will isn't very fun anyway. But I can't do anything until you find the White materia for me. If you possibly thought I would go get it myself, when I knew you would...well, let's just say this will be interesting.)

"Heidegger, go get Denmae. And some more guards. In fact, beef up security here. I don't want any more incidents like this one. That will be all."

Heidegger got up from his hands and knees. "Sure thing, Aysta."

Aysta glared at him. "I said that will be all."

Heidegger scurried out.

Aysta leaned back with her hands behind her head. (I wonder who will win? The sly sister, or the naive one who'll spend her whole life trying to save other people's just to make up for her father's actions. It's just too bad her life won't last very much longer. This was just starting to get entertaining.)


	3. Part 3: The Darkest Hour

Part 3- The Darkest Hour

Chapter 8

"The end is near," Raieyana was saying, "I can sense it. We need the other White materia orbs, and we need them fast."

Cid looked at her. "Where the hell are they?" he asked.

"Well," she said, "to my knowledge, a woman named Lucrecia has Hope. Holy, of course, is in the City of the Ancients. Spirit, as we found out from our friends the Turks, is buried on Cactus Island. From my translation, I have learned Renew is in the Mythrill Mine. And we have Mercy." She held up the Evenstar, and Mercy glimmered.

"Isn't there one more?" Red XIII asked.

"Yes. Its name is Faith. According to the translation, it disappeared with a certain band of the Cetra."

Barret just looked at her. "You mean you want us to go through all this hassle of finding materia when she can't do nothing because no one knows where one of them is, anyway?"

Raieyana raised her eyebrows. "I guess I never told you guys that each of the materia does a specific job in resurrecting. Even without Faith, Sephiroth's spirit can be withdrawn from the Lifestream. And after that happens..."

"Wait a minute," said Tifa, "I got it. Sephiroth looks for someone, probably Cloud, and just takes over their body, right?" Everyone looked from Tifa to Cloud back to Raieyana.

"Basically, yes. And with Sephiroth's Lifeforce being so strong, I wouldn't risk Aysta getting her hands on any of the White materia."

"Look, Ray," said Ishmael, "I know you didn't want us to split to get these before, but we need to get them quickly. We should split up into three groups of three and one group of four. And I suggest the group of four go to Cactus Island just because of the threat of the Turks being there."

"Okay," said Raieyana, "let's do that. Vincent, you want to see Lucrecia, right?" He nodded. "Take Yuffie and Cid and go do what you need to do. Ruther, Legolas, Blane, umm you guys go to the Mythrill Mine. There might be some monsters there, but I trust you can..."

"Sure, Ray," said Blane.

Cloud spoke up. "Hey Raieyana, I'll go with Tifa, Barret, and Red to Cactus Island. You can take Reeve and Ishmael and go to the City of Ancients."

"Okay," she said, "that's settled. How long do you think it will take?"

Barret removed two PHS's from his bag. He gave one to Blane and the other to Raieyana. "When you get your materia, you call everyone and go to, umm..." he stalled.

Raieyana brightened. "I know. Undor-Hai. That way, no one will get caught by Shinra, unless Aysta goes and invades it. But I don't think Aysta would want the Shinra guys to know about it, even now. So I guess we'll see you..."

"...when we see you," Blane finished. "Ray, take care of yourself." Then the group broke up, in search of the White materia.

************

The roar of the waterfall was overwhelming. Vincent, Yuffie, and Cid jumped off of their black chocobos.

"Sit tight Bage," Yuffie said to her chocobo.

"Y'know, Yuffster," said Cid, "they can't understand what you're saying to them, so don't both--ugh..." Cid's chocobo, Ulage, had kicked him in the groin. Vincent sighed, and cast Full Cure. "Oh, thanks, man," Cid said, glowering at Ulage.

"We must go see Lucrecia now," said Vincent. He watched Cid go in, but stopped Yuffie. "Please," he said, "don't say anything about, about what happened in Wutai."

"Fine, Vincent, but you knew exactly what you were doing. Maybe I could allow stupidity as a reason, but it is not like you were drunk or something." She walked under the waterfall, and into the cave.

Vincent closed his eyes (I'm sorry you took it that way, but it's just-- I'm just--) and walked into Lucrecia's cave.

.

Lucrecia was sitting in the shadows, holding something that looked like a baby blanket. (Why can't I just die? I am sitting in the darkness waiting for death.) She was crying. Vincent walked up to her.

"Lucrecia?" he said.

She stood up. "Vincent? Why have you come back?"

"I, I need to tell you the truth...about Sephiroth..." he said.

Lucrecia looked at him. "Is he...is he still alive?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. But he was the last time I saw you. I'm sorry. But before, there were problems that needed to be taken care of. The Planet, it was about to die."

"I know," she said, "I heard it crying. But it hasn't stopped, Vincent."

Yuffie stepped forward. "There are different problems now, and we're all searching for White materia. Shinra, too. And we heard them say something...about you having one of them."

Lucrecia nodded. "Yes, Hope." She walked over to a place in the wall and withdrew the white orb. "Here. Save the Planet. I don't need this anymore. All my hope is gone now. I just want everything to end. I want... peace, I guess."

Yuffie took her hand. "We will make peace," she said, "with this, with what you have given to us."

Lucrecia smiled weakly. "Peace for the Planet, but not peace for me," she said. "I will never have peace. No, no matter what you do, what you say, Vincent, you cannot change anything for me. You couldn't change me then, and you can't change me now."

"That is my sin," Vincent said.

"No," said Lucrecia, "your sin is letting the world and all it has to offer slip by while you sulk over the fact that I made a horrible mistake. And you try to protect me, even now. Tell me, Vincent, why did you tell me Sephiroth was dead last time you saw me? What was it you weren't telling me? Had he done something? Was he the enemy? Didn't I have the right to know?" She sighed. "For all I know, he's still alive. It doesn't matter. Take the materia, kill him once, kill him again. But don't lose what you have now for what I did then. And don't try to fool me. I really did know the truth then and I do now. Sephiroth's dead, and Shinra wants him back. For whatever reason he needs to stay dead, make sure he does. But forget me, Vincent. I might as well be dead. I should be dead. But not you..."

"Lucrecia," he whispered.

"Go live your life, Vincent. Not for me, because there is nothing left for me. Live it for...I don't know, her." She pointed to Yuffie. "But live your life, Vincent. It would be worse if I had to think I had destroyed another life besides my own."

"I never realized you felt that way. I can never forgive myself for... Well, I guess this is good-bye, Lucrecia," Vincent said. Then they left.

.

"Yuffie," Vincent said.

"What?" she asked. She was crying. "Is it enough you had to tell me to make sure to keep our little 'mistake' a secret? I think I got the picture then. I don't need a rerun of your past statement of: 'Yuffie you don't matter. You were just something to pass the time.'"

Cid looked at them. "Did I miss something?" Then the Wutai events came back to him in the semi-drunken haze of his memory. "Never mind. I don't want to know." He walked towards his chocobo.

Vincent shook his head. "The way you were in there...I don't know. It's like you've all of a sudden grown up. Trying to comfort Lucrecia. Yuffie, there was nothing shallow in that. You are nothing like you were before..."

"I grew up because I thought maybe you'd want me then. I guess not," she said. She started to walk away.

"Stop, Yuffie," he said.

"Give me one good reason," she began.

"I think I'm in love with you." 

"What? I think I'm deaf. It just sounded like you said you loved me."

Vincent reached up and touched her face. "I did. All this time I'd been guilty about it because of Lucrecia. Forgetting, for a moment, all my regrets and sorrow. Because of you. But she woke me up, right then. I've been living my life with nothing but remorse for...I don't know..."

"Something that maybe," said Yuffie, "you didn't do quite right, but isn't exactly worth ruining your whole life about. Or mine. I said nothing about us, but I think she knew anyway. It's probably the Jenova coming out in her."

"I will never forget you, Lucrecia...it will always stay...inside..." He sighed. "C'mon, I think Cid's waiting."

"And choco-Bage," Yuffie said. She took out her PHS. "Hey guys, we have Hope," she said. "Repeat, we have Hope."

************

The Mythrill Mine was dark and drippy. "I hate this place," said Blane. "Gimme Ray's map." Ruther handed it to him. "This way." Blane pointed to an even drippier passageway. They walked into it.

Almost immediately a slimy voice said: "It'ss beenn a loong time since I've hadd annyonne to pplay withh..." A large serpent loomed up ahead of them.

"I hate this place," said Blane. The serpent's tail started coiling around Legolas.

"Umm, guys?" he said.

"Yeah, okay, Leg," said Ruther.

"I hate it when you call me that."

"Look, Leg, do you want me to kill it or not?" Ruther said.

Blane blew off its head with his semi-automatic. "Eww, green blood," he said.

"I swear, Blane," said Legolas, "you are just like a girl."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Shut up!" yelled Ruther. "Look, there's a treasure chest over there. Snake-boy must have been guarding it."

Blane opened it. "He must have been getting a little rusty all back here by his lonesome. Look, it's Renew." He took out the PHS. "Ray, white number two has now been acquired. Fine, white number three. But they didn't have to fight, so of course they got it first. Oh, shut up, Yuffie." He slammed the PHS, figuratively. "Monster-Man, Chinese-Chick, and the Drunk-Guy beat us. Even though we only had to kill Wimpy-Snake."

************

Cactus Island was hot and dry. "My nose is drying out," said Red XIII.

"What do you expect, it's a desert," Cloud said, disgusted. He brought out something that looked like a metal detector. "I present to you the Materia-Detect 5000."

"Like that's really gonna find it," said Tifa.

"It should," Cloud said, "it was 38,000 gil. I bought it from the guy who used to own the weapons shop in Wall Market."

Barret snorted. "It probably is just a cheap metal detector."

"We'll just see," said Cloud. He turned it on. _Bzzz, Bzzz, *Beep*, *Beep*_. "Oh, dig right there, Barret."

"Why me?" Barret asked.

"Because you have the shovel!" yelled Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII at the same time.

"Probably a waste of time," he muttered, and started digging. Almost right away he hit something solid. (Probably one of those stupid cactuses.) He reached down, and pulled up a little gold case. He opened it up. "Well, I'll be dam--"

Tifa jumped up and down. "Spirit!"

"We'll be a-takin' that Spirit now," said Rude.

"Do you fellows know," Red XIII said, "that you annoy us to no end."

"Shut up," said Elena, "and put 'em up. It's time for revenge. Reno may be too injured to be with us, but we'll fight twice as hard..."

Tifa cast Tornado on them, and they ran away. "Is it just me, or are they getting weaker and weaker?"

Cloud shrugged. "Uhh, they're getting weaker and weaker," he said. He took out the PHS. "Hey Raieyana, we got Spirit, yes we do, we got Spirit, how 'bout you? Uh-huh, just got past that yellow fish to the stairs to the altar. Yes, that fish is quite annoying. What? They all got their materia, too? This is almost too easy..."

************

(So easy for them. And they almost have all of them.) Aysta smiled. (Father, it's almost time. I'm sure it won't be hard for you to find a body after I bring your soul back.) She reached into her desk an pulled out a circle fitted with materia slots. Six. (The five White materia right here with Mutate in the center. A few incantations, Father, and you will return. And Raieyana will know pain like she never has before.)

************

Raieyana looked down the long stairway which led down to the place where Sephiroth had killed her mother. Ishmael looked at her. "It's hard for you, isn't it, Ray?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, not really." Ishmael reached for her hand, but she pulled away. She looked at Reeve. (It's good to see only his fists are clenched after that episode with those guards. But it's only Ish, Reeve, only Ish...he would never do anything to hurt me...) "I mean, even though I can definitely feel bad vibes, I don't know, I guess there just isn't much meaning in this place for me. It would be harder to go to the ruins of the Temple of the Ancients."

"Because of Tseng?" Reeve asked.

Raieyana nodded. "Because of Tseng. Well, I hope no one is worried about getting their clothes wet..." She glanced at Reeve's suit. "...because Holy is underwater and we only know vaguely where it is. But it's glowing green, so..."

"Hey," yelled Ishmael, "over here! I see it!" He pointed to a spot in the water, and they could all see a faint glowing, and deeper, a materia orb: Holy. "Just stay there you two, and I'll go get it." He dived into the water with a splash.

Reeve raised an eyebrow. "He is way too enthusiastic about some things."

"Well, Reeve," said Raieyana, "you have personality problems as well, you know."

"Like what?" he asked.

"For one, the little skirmish in the Shinra building..."

"Ray, we got out alive, didn't we?"

"You didn't have to cut off all their heads."

Reeve moved closer towards her. "That guard didn't have to touch you like that, look at you like that, say anything... I didn't want anything to happen to you, and look--nothing did. Don't I deserve at least a 'thank you' for that?"

Ishmael hoisted himself out of the water. (I have Holy. Now where's Ray...) He glanced around and saw Raieyana...kissing Reeve. (_See...you'll never be good enough for her..._) Aysta's voice rang through his head. He turned around so Raieyana wouldn't know he had seen them. "Hey, Ray," he called. Raieyana and Reeve pulled apart quickly. Ishmael turned back around. "Got Holy," he said.

"Great," she said hoarsely, clearing her throat. She pulled out the PHS. (I hope Ish didn't see us. It would break his heart...) "Guys," she said, "we have Holy. Uh-huh, yeah. Now we're heading over to Undor-Hai ourselves. All right, see ya. Yes Blane, that also includes you. Bye." "C'mon, guys. Everyone is waiting for us." Raieyana started back up the stairs, with Reeve following her.

Ishmael brought up the rear. (Ray, I'm sorry...but I never thought you would betray me. I can't stop this if you're the one who started it. Aysta was right. You will never love me. Never.)

Chapter 9

After a nice reprisal of "welcome home Ray" from Lia, Raieyana, Reeve, and Ishmael met up with the others. Yuffie jumped up and ran over to Raieyana triumphantly. "I give you Hope," she said.

"Okay," said Raieyana, "two from Yuffie, now is anyone else going to give me a White materia?" Cloud walked over and handed her Spirit.

Blane sauntered over. "I'll give you Renew, if you'll give me a kiss."

(Blane we broke up, remember?) she thought. But, she leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Here you are m'lady," he said, handing her Renew.

Raieyana hauled out the Evenstar. "There's Mercy, now Spirit, Renew, Hope, and...Holy," she said, placing each orb in its respective slot.

"Now what?" asked Ruther.

"Ray," said Ishmael, "we have to do something about Aysta."

"I know, I know," she said, "but we shouldn't rush into anything. I--"

"Ray," said Blane, "Aysta is the immediate problem. If we don't finish her off now, there was no point in getting the materia. We might as well just hand it all over to her now. I mean, I understand this is hard for you. It's hard for me, too."

"It's not the same, Blane," she said, "to you, it's like 'well, she was my friend, but she's gone bad.' To me it means another member of my family is going to be dead when this is all over."

Cid walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "I thought that's what it always meant."

"I know, I just...well, I thought maybe she would come to her senses. I understand why I have to do this, I just never brought myself to face reality before. Aysta must die...but, can we at least wait until tomorrow?"

Reeve took her hand. "No one's asking you to go out and do it right this second. Right?" he asked, addressing the others. They nodded. "So," he continued, "we all need tonight to rest, anyway. Then...well, we'll go do what has to be done."

Raieyana nodded. "Tomorrow it all ends."

************

It was a little past midnight when Blane met Ishmael outside Lia's house, where they were staying. "So," he whispered, "are you ready to do what needs to be done?"

"But," Ishmael said, "Ray..." His voice trailed off into the darkness.

Blane grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Ishmael," he said, "she has forgotten you. So what if you love her? She will never love you."

Ishmael looked at him. "Shut up. You sound just like Aysta."

"So," said Blane, "did you ever think for a minute that maybe Aysta's right? C'mon, you know what you could do."

"What?" Ishmael asked warily.

"Help Aysta. I mean, after all, look what Ray's been doing to you. It would just be a little practical joke. Like old times."

"Old times..." Ishmael whispered. Then he nodded. "Okay Blane, you win. Where's Ray's room?" Blane pointed to a window in Lia's house. "Be back in five," Ishmael said. "Wait. Take the sword?"

Blane shook his head. "Just the materia. We'll head to Junon right away, so take your stuff with you."

************

"Yes, come," Aysta whispered. "closer and closer to the end, my goal, Sephiroth's glorious return. Right Denmae?" She looked over at Denmae. Her eyes were glassy, she uttered no reply. "Too much mind control for one day?" Aysta ruffled Denmae's hair. "Well, when the boys get here, I won't be so intense with them, okay? I just can't believe Ish went along with Blane. Surprise, surprise. But then I guess he never expected to see innocent little Ray tongue-in-cheek with another man. But then, life's just full of surprises."

"President?" Scarlet walked into the room. "Are you okay? I heard your voice in the next room and I thought..."

"I know what you thought," said Aysta, "you thought I was talking to myself. Going crazy, perhaps? No. I was just talking to my friend Denmae." She smiled at Denmae. "So don't bother yourself about me, Scarlet. Just bother with getting me a Gelnika prepared. Three others and myself are going to the Northern Crater tomorrow. Oh, and if two ex-Soldiers come in..." She handed Scarlet a picture of Blane and a picture of Ishmael. "Bring them up here. I will be expecting them. They have a present for me."

************

Raieyana woke up with the sun streaming across her face. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. Then she noticed the note taped to the Evenstar. She walked slowly towards it, puzzled. (Ish's handwriting? What does it say?)

.

_Ray, _

I never wanted it to end this way. I never expected it to end like this. But then, I never expected that we wouldn't be together. I guess I woke up yesterday. I saw you and Reeve. Have a nice life with the path you chose, if you can live with it, knowing now how it has affected mine. Blane, Aysta, they knew--but never mind what they knew. The only thing that matters now is what I know, and what you know. I couldn't leave without saying something, anything. And I say it now--forgive me, forgive me, for being to weak to ignore the suggestions. They've slowly come on, the voices telling me things I never wanted to hear. But there was only so long I could hold them out of me. Forgive me Raieyana. I always will love you, me. Maybe I'm just not me anymore.

--Ish

.

Raieyana caught her breath. (Forgive you for what, Ish? For leaving? What about Blane, Aysta?) Then she turned over the sword. All the slots were empty. "Oh God, Ish," she whispered. "Not the materia..." Tears welled up in her eyes. She ran to room Ishmael and Blane were sharing. She whipped open the door. (Empty, all their stuff gone...) She was starting to panic. She ran to Reeve's room. He was sound asleep. "Reeve, wake up." She shook him. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Ray? What is it, hon?" he mumbled.

"The materia's gone, and so are Blane and Ish."

He sat up, now wide awake. "What? I swore I just heard--"

"You did. We gotta get the others, tell them."

"Raieyana," he said slowly, "did they go to Aysta?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. But they're probably in Junon by now. We have to catch her before she does anything. Now where would she go with the materia?"

They both looked at each other. "The Northern Crater!" they said at the same time.

.

"The hell? Raieyana, they're your friends," Barret said.

"Barret," said Reeve, "don't you think she's upset enough, without you..."

Cloud held up his hand to silence Reeve. He was holding Ishmael's letter. "Actually Reeve," he said, "I think you're the one who caused all this."

"So what, now it's all my fault? It's not like I'm the one who goes crazy anytime someone with a little bit of Jenova in them walks by. I saw you coming on to Ray the other day."

"Well," said Tifa, coming to Cloud's defense, "at least he's only five years older than her, not ten, like some cradle robbers I know."

"Please," pleaded Raieyana. Everyone calmed down a little. She continued softly. "Arguing is not going to stop Aysta. There's only one way, and I think I'm the only one who can. After all, there is no way I can be susceptible to her mind control."

"She's right. She needs to go and stop Aysta, quickly. Maybe you can win Ishmael back. From the letter, he doesn't sound completely with Aysta's camp, yet," said Legolas.

"Allright," said Cid, "never wanted to go back there, but I guess it's off to the Northern Crater."

Chapter 10

There was a chill in the Northern Crater. Raieyana shivered. (When this place collapsed, it made new caverns, with new demons. Demons for me to conquer. Me, alone.) She heard a sound behind her. She whirled around. (Nothing.) She breathed a sigh of relief, and turned back around.

"Hi, honey," snarled a large mutant wolf, about three times the size of the wolves around Nibelheim. Raieyana was taking no chances. She whipped out the Evenstar.

"You caught up with me at a very bad time," she began, moving towards it. She heard more snarls. Raieyana was surrounded.

"Kar," growled one, sniffing Raieyana, "can we have a little fun with her first? I've never had a two-legger before."

"Whatever you want," said Kar. Suddenly Kar split in half.

"Reeve?" said Raieyana, astonished.

"Hey, Ray," he said. "I followed you." In a flash the four other wolves were dead.

Raieyana smiled, relieved. "Cloud had no idea what danger he was putting himself in when he was flirting with me the other day."

Reeve shrugged. "Anyone who makes a lurid pass at you, dies. It's just that simple." He looked at her. "I didn't want you facing her alone," he murmured, "I just couldn't let myself leave you by yourself."

"Well," she said, "it's great that you did, Reeve. But I have a job to do. Can you let me do that by myself?"

"Unless Aysta comes out of the closet, no problem," said Reeve.

She looked at him. "Y'know, that's my sister," she said.

He shrugged. "I keep forgetting because you two have no similarities."

"Come on," Raieyana said.

.

Four hours later, they still hadn't reached Aysta. Suddenly the narrow tunnel opened into a large cavern. "Reeve can come with me," a male voice said. "Blane?" whispered Raieyana. "Don't do this--"

"Shut up," he said. He pressed a revolver against Reeve's neck. "We're going to see Aysta, understand?" he said. Raieyana nodded. He led them over to a corner of the cavern. A circlet with materia was glowing.

"Denmae," Aysta said, "take Reeve off Blane's hands for the moment. Now dear sister, you will see the power I have over others, even your precious Ishmael."

"Ish? What have you done to him?" Raieyana asked.

"Nothing...yet. Why, do you think I should?" Aysta smiled wickedly. "Now, back to business. Blane, put the gun in your mouth." He did as she said.

"No," Raieyana whispered.

"Pull the trigger," said Aysta.

"Stop!" Raieyana yelled, but it was no use. She closed her eyes when she heard the bang and didn't open them until she heard Blane's body hit the ground.

"Don't think, Ray, that I wouldn't make you watch Ishmael do the same thing. Or your new lover-boy, whoever the hell he thinks he is." Raieyana suddenly noticed Ishmael and Reeve were standing behind Aysta, hands at their sides.

Reeve was looking straight into her eyes. (Ray, don't worry about me. Get Aysta...)

Ishmael was looking at the ground. (What have I done...

_only what she deserves..._

I love her...

_you used to love her. Not anymore._)

"Oh, Aysta," Raieyana said, "what makes you think you can make me do anything?"

"Well, Ray, if you don't do what I ask, know that I can torture Ish and what's-his-name the same way as Blane," said Aysta, "I really don't think that you would enjoy that. Either way, you see my power, either way you get punished for your disobedience to our dear, beloved Father."

"Aysta, the only thing you have on your mind is revenge on me, for God knows only what. Whatever I did to you, sure make me pay, but Ish, Reeve, they've done nothing to you. They have nothing to do with this. This is between you and me, sister. Unless you need hostages because you can't do it by yourself..." (Always hit the inferiority complex first, the rest of her later...)

"Fine," said Aysta, and she waved her hand. Reeve and Ishmael fell flat on their faces But Reeve only fell because Denmae, who was behind him with a gun to his head, fell. It was apparent that Aysta's mind control had kept her and Ishmael where they stood, but not Reeve. That was done with Denmae's gun. "I really didn't want to do anything to them anyway. It's hard to get men who are really good slaves to mind control."

"Reeve," said Raieyana, "take Ish out of here. He looks bad."

"What about you, Ray?" Reeve asked.

"Just go!" He nodded, put Ishmael's arm around his shoulder, and led him out of there.

(If you can control minds, sis, then me too.) "Denmae," Raieyana said, looking deep into her eyes, "sleep." Denmae immediately passed out.

Aysta chuckled. "Did you really think you were ever gonna stop me?" she taunted. "Even now, it's basically all over. Father's back, and really, it's all thanks to you...for trusting your old friends when you knew I had the powers of mind control... But, hey, Ish never would have hopped on the Aysta bandwagon if you didn't have a new man. By the way, what is so great about this Reeve guy? All he does is decimate men that so much as glance at you with this jealous rage he seems to have. Well, sis, I'd even forgive you now if you apologized, but really it's up to Father." She climbed on a tall rock jutting out from above a huge drop-off. She raised her arms above her head. "Oh, Father, with your infinite wisdom, judge your prodigal daughter as she dares to defy you, even now, in your moment of glory..." she began. Than she slipped, and fell.

"Aysta," cried Raieyana, running to the edge. Aysta was gone. Raieyana glanced at the circlet. (That was rather anti-climatic. Damn you, Aysta. Sephiroth's coming back now. But maybe I can still stop it all still, if...) She grabbed Mutate, and stuck it in the center slot of the Evenstar. She put the White materia around it. (One empty slot...too bad Aysta didn't know where Faith was. But I can end this now, here.) She started to reach for something, but she heard Reeve's voice.

"Ray...are you okay? If everything's settled, you can come over here now." She hesitated, glancing at the glowing materia, then headed to join Reeve.

"Aysta?" Reeve asked.

"Fell off a rock. Dead. Never had much coordination," Raieyana said.

Ishmael moaned. He was on his knees, obviously ailing. "Ray, I'm sorry. I...I..."

Raieyana stopped him. "Now, Ish, it's okay. It's not your fault--it's Aysta's."

Ishmael shook his head. "I tried to fight it. For so long now, I... Ray, I can't do it anymore."

"What?"

Ishmael closed his eyes. "I still hear it, telling me...things. But it's not Aysta anymore, it's Sephiroth. Ray, I don't want to hurt you."

"Ish, you haven't. There's nothing you could ever do to hurt me."

(Here it comes) thought Reeve. (I'm just waiting for her to say the words to comfort him that will break my heart. Go on, Ray, Tell him you love him. After all, you do, don't you? Nothing could faze me, really. But this guy, he's suffering, you can ease the pain. Go on Ray. I'll understand. It's too soon to think you could even possibly love me...) There was a loud crash. Then another. "Ray, this thing's going to collapse pretty soon," said Reeve shakily.

"Ray," said Ish.

"Yes," she answered.

"Make it all end, please."

Raieyana was confused. "What?"

"I can't live like this," he said, "I'm in love with you, yet every second, every minute, is filled with voices telling me to...Ray, I'm going to lose my mind. I'm half-way there already." Another crash. "It's going to cave in, you have to get out of here. Ray, just don't take me with you when you go back up. Tell them Aysta killed me."

She shook her head, and smoothed back his hair. (Always too long, never stayed in place... I'd do anything for you Ish, but I can't do this, please...) "No Ish, if I do that Aysta will have killed you."

"But Ray," Ishmael said, "if you take me with you it will kill me anyway. Not my body, but my soul..."

Raieyana started to cry. "I can't leave you here, Ish. This sounds so selfish, but I need you. Everything from my past is gone. Bet you don't know this, or Reeve either, but when we were in the Shinra building, I saw a newspaper opened to the obituary page. I saw my aunt's...Aula, she's dead. Aysta must have killed her, because my aunt wasn't very old. Not old enough to die on her own. And Ish, Blane's gone, and Aysta, my father... If you die, I won't have anyone...no one..."

"Shhh..." He put his finger to her lips. "Him." He pointed to Reeve. "He loves you. You'll have him. Reeve, you'll take care of Ray, won't you?"

Reeve nodded slowly. (How could he know that I...love her?) 

"All I want is peace," Ishmael said. "Give it to me, please."

"Okay Ish," she said, "close your eyes. Sleep." Raieyana was grateful for her skills is hypnosis once again as Ishmael went into a peaceful slumber. "Please don't feel any more pain." She kissed him. Reeve took her hand. "Good-bye, my friend," she said.

Reeve was silent. (Aysta was on a level well below the destruction she caused. Another thing to blame Sephiroth for? Who is to blame because this boy dies? Hojo, Ray, or perhaps...even me?)

************

From the deck of the Airship, they could see the crater collapsing on itself. "I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad sign," Red XIII said.

"Look," said Cloud, "there's Reeve and Raieyana." Reeve climbed up the ladder first and put his hand down to help up Raieyana, who was still very upset.

"What's wrong?" asked Tifa. "What happened?"

"Well," said Reeve, "Aysta's dead."

"A relief," said Legolas, "Denmae?"

"Dead."

"Umm, Blane?" asked Ruther.

"Dead."

"Ishmael?" asked Vincent quietly.

"He's dead," Raieyana said. "Aysta killed him. (Ish, no one will ever know. I swear.) And, well, she succeeded in her plans."

"What?" said Cloud.

"The materia was glowing when I got there, already working. I could have stopped it even then, but..."

"So why didn't you?" asked Barret angrily.

"You know what?" she said, "I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry that I had to be with my friend when he died. I'm so sorry that I got all the materia back. And Mutate as well. I'm so sorry that I still have a plan to stop Sephiroth before he takes over someone's body, especially when the most likely candidate for that is sitting among us." She got up and started to leave. "Wait. Why don't we keep going here? I'm sorry I was born, because then Aysta wouldn't have been born. I'm sorry my father existed, because maybe then Aeris wouldn't be dead. I'm so sorry that I disappointed all of you by thinking 'Maybe Sephiroth's going to come no matter what the hell I do, but I'll never see Ish again after today, so I should be there.' I'm so sorry, so damn sorry!" She left the deck.

"She's had a hard day," said Cid.

"Yeah," said Reeve coldly, "she has had a time."

Barret walked over guiltily. "Take her to Costa Del Sol for tonight. Let her get rid of the bad vibes. Come back tomorrow."

Reeve looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he knew. "Why me?"

Barret shrugged. "Because from where I stand, I think you're the best friend that she has left. Mebbe she needs someone to talk to. I don't think I would make the best choice. So you go with her. Give her a peaceful night."

Chapter 11

They had arrived at the villa two hours ago. Reeve was watching Raieyana. (Motionless. No sound. For two hours. Ray, talk to me. Maybe I couldn't understand, but maybe this just isn't a time when someone should be alone. Don't shut me out. Please.) He walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. "You okay?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

"Ray, say something. Please."

"What for?"

"Hmm, gosh I don't know. Hell, Ray, two of your closest friends and your sister just died. Not to mention Denmae. Me, being a real dumb-ass, I guess, thought maybe you would want to talk to someone who cares about you. A whole damn lot." (Don't push me away.)

"Reeve," said Raieyana, "you should stop, then. Everyone who has ever cared a smidgen about me is dead. I don't want you to end up dead."

"Ray." He kissed her softly on the cheek. "I love you."

She started shaking. "Love, love, that's what it was all about. I wish I could have loved him. God, I would have told him I did, if I thought he would have believed me. If I could have let myself lie to him. Don't love me, Reeve. You saw how the last one went. Not you." He wrapped his arms around her. She started sobbing in his shoulder. "Don't love me..."

"Shhh, Ray."

"...everyone I have ever loved is dead. Not you, not you..."

Reeve stood up. "Ray, I'm not leaving you. I'm staying right here."

"Forever? Forever is a long time, you know."

"God, Ray, do you want me to prove myself or what?" he asked. Raieyana nodded. He brushed away her tears. "I'd do anything for you to trust in me."

She kissed him full on the lips. "Show me that you love me," she whispered. Reeve willingly obliged.

************

Raieyana was dreaming.

_"Father knows your weakness... Your latest weakness, that is. You've had so many...Tseng, Aula, Ishmael. You don't seriously expect to survive, do you? Do you expect to win? Why don't you accept who you are and face your reality? Sephiroth lives, he lives--forever. In you."_ Aysta's voice trailed off into the darkness of the cavern Raieyana was in. Her companion turned to face her. He wielded a sword. (The Evenstar.) She felt the cold metal as the blade went through her. He leaned forward and she could see his face. (Reeve.) Then his face changed. (Sephiroth?)

************

Raieyana woke up with a start. (What does it all mean? What is Reeve going to do? What is Sephiroth going to do?) Reeve stirred beside her.

"Hey, you moved," he mumbled, taking her back into his arms.

She got up out of bed. "I need to go outside and do some contemplating."

Reeve was wide awake now. "Do you need to do this 'contemplating' alone?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I guess not."

"Good," he said, "contemplating was my best subject in school, you know."

"Reeve, this is serious."

.

Raieyana walked out onto the balcony, with Reeve following behind. "It's so dark, like the earth's mourning Ishmael as well. Actually, it reminds me of a night a little while back. Blane and I dated a couple years ago. We had just broken up, and I was talking to Ishmael...

.

_"So, Ray," said Ishmael, "are you and Blane officially 'over' now?"_

Raieyana shrugged. "I guess so," she said.

"Good, because if you two had stayed together much longer I would have had to fight him for you."

There was always this joke between the four of us that I "belonged" to Ish.

_Raieyana shook her head. "Sure, Ish, just so I could get thrown away with yesterday's trash when you meet the girl who really is meant for you."_

Ishmael turned and looked into her eyes. "There'll never be anyone for me but you, Ray," he said, "even fifty years from now when you've lived your life and I've lived mine and we're both old and grey, I'll still be there waiting for you. No matter how many 'Blanes' come along for you, I will always be in the background, hoping 'maybe someday Ray will be mine.' But it will never happen, because you always attract tons of other guys who are better than I ever will be."

"No, Ish," said Raieyana, "no one can ever be as good as you. I don't deserve you."

.

And so I tried to laugh the whole thing off, but he was serious. I've remembered it all this time. He was so good to me. I didn't deserve him then and I'm still not worthy of him now."

"So what does that make me?" asked Reeve.

Raieyana looked thoughtful. "Besides the man I love?"

"Never mind," said Reeve, "I like that answer just fine. So what is bothering you, anyway. Another bad dream?" She nodded. "Did you die again?" She nodded. They sat for a few moments in silence, listening to the gentle sound of the waves crashing into the shore.

"I don't know why it worries me so much," she said, "it's just a little eerie, that's all, and I sit here, so upset and everything." They sat there a little longer, while Raieyana was thinking. "Well," she said, apparently coming to some sort of decision, "we should probably go back to bed."

"I like the way you think," said Reeve. Raieyana rolled her eyes. "Oh," he said, "that's not what you meant."

************

Raieyana awoke at the break of dawn the next morning. (I now realize what I need to do. I just wish it didn't have to be this hard.) She kissed Reeve on the cheek and climbed out of bed softly, so not to wake him. She quickly got dressed and gathered up her things.

_"I love you,"_ she wrote, _"so much, but I have some things that I need to take care of. And I realize now that I have to do it alone. I hope that I will see you really soon."_ (He can't hurt me if he's not with me. I'll just go undo the resurrection spell and come back to him. I only need to finish the last part of the translation first. And take care of some business in Junon...) She was silhouetted for a moment in the doorway by the sun, surrounded by light. But then she closed the door behind her and left. For the boat dock. For Junon.

.

__

I leave you here today

There's nothing you can change

I still love you, but it has to be this way

I can't hold your hand

As I fly away


	4. Part 4: A Glimpse of Truth

Part 4- A Glimpse of Truth

Chapter 12

Reeve woke up to an empty bed. "Ray," he called softly. (Oh come on, it was not just a dream. I remember everything too vividly.) He saw the note on the pillow. (Alone, Ray? Oh God, what the hell are you thinking of doing? What is in that dream, Ray? What scares you so much?) He got up and dressed quickly. After much consideration, he got out the PHS.

Cloud answered. "PHS," he yawned.

"Cloud," said Reeve, "so glad it's you. I've got a little problem on my hands. Ray's gone."

"Reeve, it sounded like you just said Raieyana's g--"

"Yes, I did. But I don't want a big ruckus."

"So?" asked Cloud.

"Just you go look for her, and I'll go look for her. Say you're going to Gold Saucer for a break, and that Ray needs one more day to recuperate. We've just got to find her."

"You do realize," Cloud said slowly, "that girl has the most awesome disguise skills, not to mention knowledge of the real locations of legendary places. But I'll help you, if just to get her alone, if you know what I mean..."

"What?"

"Sorry. I forgot you corporates locked up in your cubicles have no sense of social things, or of needs and desires, apparently. After all, you were a stuffed cat for awhile. Anyway, you check your continent, and I'll check Junon. She probably couldn't have gotten anywhere else in such a short time. And don't worry. If Sephiroth comes back, and we still don't know where she is, I'll just kill him again."

************

Raieyana stood in front of her aunt's house. She turned the key in the lock and walked in.

"Hey," said a Soldier, "how the hell did you get in here? Don't say you live here, because the owner of this place died without a living next of kin..."

"Too bad," said Raieyana, "this is my aunt's house, and I am the only living next of kin."

The Soldier laughed. "That's a good one. So, what would your name happen to be?"

"Raieyana Amine," she said.

"Spell that."

"R-A-I-E-Y-A-N-A A-M-I-N-E."

The Soldier looked at her. "I'll be damned. They declared you dead when they declared the president of Shinra dead. I'll need to see some I.D., though." She showed him her Junon I.D. card. Sure, it was two years old, but it still looked like her. "Fine, fine, fine," the Soldier muttered. "Sign this, the deed, and these for proof of receipt. Oh, and you probably want the keys, too." He handed her the keys he had.

She put them in her pocket. (Wouldn't want you walking around with them, that's for sure.)

He started to walk out the door, but turned around. "Oh, hon," he said, "wouldn't stay in here too long if I were you. The warrant's still out even though President Aysta's dead. However, this stuff you signed is still legal. Have a happy time in your newly-inherited house." Then he left.

(Shouldn't stay for too long? I guess it's off to an inn.) Raieyana locked the door and left for the inn.

************

(Well, the innkeeper acted weird. Like he was expecting me...) Raieyana took out her room key and unlocked the door. She walked in and turned on the light. Cloud was sitting on the bed, waiting for her.

"Y'know, Raieyana," he said, "you scared the hell out of Reeve leaving like that. He and I are looking for you, because the others would simply have had heart attacks if they knew how you took off." There was an odd quality to his voice.

"Well, I was just going to go back to the crater so I could use the materia to destroy Mutate, and send Sephiroth's spirit back into the Lifestream," she said.

Cloud walked over to Raieyana, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her. "And you don't think that his spirit wouldn't have pulled out all the stops to make sure you didn't? This is Sephiroth, hon, not your evil twin. He could probably just will you to die and it would happen. Stupid. Real stupid."

"Look," she said, "I'm not the problem. If I had brought you along, he would have just taken over your body and I would have had worse problems. A formless spirit willing me to die is one thing. A psycho Mako-enhanced human with a large sword is a totally different thing."

Cloud had a strange gleam in his eye. "Raieyana," he said in a low voice, "what makes you think Sephiroth isn't controlling me right now?" He shoved her against the wall. Hard.

Raieyana reached up and touched her lip. (It's split. It's bleeding. Is Sephiroth in Cloud?)

"Don't you think," said Cloud, "that he wouldn't do anything to hurt or humiliate you to pay you back for your disobedience..."

He grabbed her and threw her onto the bed. He pinned her arms down. Raieyana struggled furiously. She got one arm free and caught him in the jaw with her fist. Cloud turned his head slowly to look at her. He smiled cruelly. Raieyana turned away in horror. He banged the side of her face against the headboard of the bed. Then he ripped off her sweater. Raieyana used one last burst of energy and kicked him onto the ground. He lay there for a moment.

"Raieyana," he said drowsily, "what did I do?" Sephiroth had apparently left Cloud for the time being.

"Cloud?" she asked, bending over him.

He looked at her face. Her lip was swollen and he could see the beginnings of a black eye. He noticed the torn sweater. (What would I have done to her? How did I get here? The last thing I remember was being at the deli and a Soldier came in. Said something about seeing someone who looked like Raieyana... Did Sephiroth take me over?) Raieyana pulled off the remnants of the sweater, and she was just wearing her dress. She walked over to the bathroom mirror and examined her face. "I'm sorry," said Cloud, "I know that must not mean much to you, but I wasn't myself. Hey, I got Cure. Just a second."

She shrugged. "You can try Cure, but White Wind didn't work on me in the Shinra building, so why would Cure work here?" The materia Cloud was holding flashed. Raieyana's appearance stayed the same. He used it again. No result.

"What am I going to tell Reeve?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, "because I'll talk to him. We'll go back to Costa Del Sol and have the Airship pick us up. I'm not quite done with the translation for destroying a Black materia, though. Translating this Ancient stuff is really difficult and takes a lot of time. And effort. It always tires me out."

Cloud took out the PHS. "Umm, Raieyana? Before I call, I gotta tell you one thing. Next time I go psycho on you and if I try to do what I was trying before, you have my full permission to kick me where it hurts."

************

Sephiroth was glad to be out of the Lifestream. Aysta had succeeded. (Foolish Raieyana. She will always be watching Cloud. Little does she know, I will be gaining control of the person closest to her. I am just so sorry my daughter has the wisdom of her mother, being so foolish she would give her life for others. When this one joins her mother, however, there will not be a person left on the planet that I will not be able to control. One good thing to say about the Lifestream was how it raises one's awareness of others' consciousness. My mind controlling abilities have now spread to those who do not have Jenova, those who possess materia, or have had contact with Mako. Virtually everyone but my daughter. I cannot control her. She is too strong. But my control of others can destroy her. It will destroy her. I will destroy her.)

.

Chapter 13

The Airship had picked up Cloud, Reeve, and Raieyana. However, Reeve had not even exchanged a greeting with Raieyana because it had come so quickly after they met up at Costa Del Sol. Raieyana was walking towards the Airship's bathroom.

"Wait, Ray," he said. She walked even faster. He caught up with her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Stop. Are you mad at me?"

"No, Reeve," she said.

"Then what is it?" he asked. "Hon, look at me." She did. "Your face..."

"Yeah," she said, "my face. Can I go to the bathroom and fix it up now? No, materia didn't work."

"What happened?" She ignored him, and opened the bathroom door. And saw Yuffie and Vincent. In the midst of a major make-out session. They glanced up at Raieyana and Reeve.

"What?" said Yuffie, "it helps me keep from being quite so airsick." Raieyana shut the door.

"What happened, Ray?" asked Reeve, rather forcibly.

"Look, Reeve, I don't want to talk about it."

"Ray," he said, "if you tell me who did this to you, I assure you they will get what's coming."

"Fine, Reeve. It was Sephiroth," she said. She finished sarcastically. "Do what you need to do, Wonder-boy. Unfortunately, you happen to be one of my biggest problems at the moment."

"Why am I a problem? All I do is love you," he said.

"Not in my dream," she said, "that's what worries me."

"Why don't you tell me about this dream you keep having."

She shook her head. "It's just a dream. I need to focus on my translation. I need to learn how to undo what Aysta's done. Even though there's so much damage that I will never be able to repair. But I have to keep going. To save the Planet. To avenge Ishmael. He will not have died in vain. Well, I have work to do, so if you'll just leave me for a little while..." She kissed him. "...maybe we could have fun later," she finished.

Reeve smiled. "Okay, finish your homework."

.

Raieyana went into the command room to get to work on the last part of the translation. Reeve started to go to the bridge to tell the others to leave her alone. (I wonder if the incident with Cloud scared her into coming back here? If she's afraid to be near him without someone else around?) He turned around and was face to face with Tifa. "Hey, Tifa," he said.

"What is Raieyana doing?" she asked.

"Oh, you know, just working with the last portion of that Ancient translation," he replied.

"It's really terrible how Cloud went berserk on her, when he likes her so much. Yeah, he told me so. Something about her being absolutely perfect, like a new-and-improved Aeris."

"Really," said Reeve. (This is all interesting Tifa, but frankly, I don't want to know who has the hots for Ray. After all we're together, aren't we? I mean she told me she loves me. That has to count for something, right?)

"So Reeve," said Tifa, "we don't really know each other that well, and I kind of guess..." She looked at him and smiled. She leaned forward. "I really would like to," she said softly.

(What should I say? Ray and I never said anything about not telling anyone about us, but I didn't know that no one knew we were kind of hooked up. But then again, I didn't see the Vincent and Yuffie thing coming and wouldn't have seen it, except we kind of walked in on them. But Tifa is coming on to me and I want her to stop...) Tifa leaned forward and kissed him. Reeve quickly pushed her off of him. "Stop," he said.

"Why?" asked Tifa. "Don't you like me?"

"Sure," he said, "but me and Ray are kind of, well, kind of together."

She gave him a knowing look. "Probably not for long. Cloud has a tendency to get what Cloud wants," she said.

"Yeah, well, I really don't think Ray's going to be touching him with a forty-foot pole. Besides, even if she did go for Cloud, what makes you think I would even want you anyway? You're not quite my type," said Reeve. (Didn't want to hurt her feelings, but if she insists on being pushy, hey, I'll push right back.)

"I'd like to know what your type is, Reeve. If you change your mind, though, I think you know where to find me." Tifa walked up the stairs to the deck.

Reeve continued going to the bridge, shaking his head. (Does she seriously think I wouldn't prefer Ray to her after that little scene? She wants to know what my type is. Hell, I don't even know myself. But what is my type, anyway...classy? Well, a little bit. Definitely has to be kind of smart. But devoted, that has to be it. Ray is really committed, to everything she does. That has to be it. I want a woman who's committed. To me, for one thing. And that pretty much sums Ray up, I think. But Tifa, well... The only thing to possibly describe her? Overwhelming...)

************

_Khazed_. It was just three Ancient glyphs, but the word _khazed_ had Raieyana completely stumped. (Could it be derived from the word _zeld_, shield, or is it from _zehd_, death? Either way the first syllable is from _kha_, sacred energy. Sacred shield, or sacred death...) She scanned the surrounding words. _Ina_- killer. _Nefomire_- beloved. (Okay, beloved killer...then this has got to mean sacred death. Oh! Brainstorm! It means sacrifice. So, "the one who is the sacrifice dies by the hand of a beloved killer." Doesn't quite fit with "the black materia must be surrounded by the white on a sword of thrice-tempered adamantium." Oh, I see...the sacrifice is killed "with this sword." Oh God. My dream. Am I to be sacrificed? It is my sword. Reeve stabs me with it in my dream. So I know what has to be done. To end this all, I must give my life. Should I tell anyone, should I tell Reeve? No, no one should know. I accept the fact that this must happen, and cannot be prevented, but would anyone else accept it? No. They would stop it at any cost and the cost would be not destroying Sephiroth before it's too late.) She stood up, scattering her translated pages over the floor. She picked them up, stacked them, and set them down on top of the Ancient scrolls.

(No time to bother with the rest. I now know all I need to. Can I handle this? Can Reeve handle this? I forgive him now already, but could he forgive himself afterwards? I need to tell him something so he will know how I feel, without telling him our destiny. How can I hint to him that this tragedy would, in actuality, be a triumph? Not a defeat, but a victory for us all? What do I tell him? The only regret I have is that he must be the one to kill me. Yes, it is much more painful to die by the hand of someone you love than by the hand of someone you hate. Did Ish wish that Aysta had killed him so I didn't have to be the one to... Ish, I miss you. You were the one who always assured me everything was going to be okay. But now you're gone, and I will be soon, and I just want Reeve to know even if this happens, I'd still love him. And I will. So how do I tell him that?)

************

It was about six o'clock in the evening when Raieyana emerged from the command room, tired. "So Ray," said Reeve, "did you get all the information you need?"

She nodded. "I think so. It's probably going to be hard going in the crater though. I was stupid to go by myself last time. We should probably get some help from Undor-Hai. A few fighters, and Lia would probably come, and we all could prepare and go through some weapons training."

Reeve looked at her. "Training?" he asked, a little indignantly.

"Oh Reeve," she sighed, "a few lessons on those knives would be a great help to your present 'cut in half first, ask questions later' technique. With that, miss once, and you're in a bad situation. You should master them, really. Everyone should master at least one weapon."

"Ray, pray tell me, what weapon have you mastered?" he asked.

"Weapons," she said, emphasizing the 's.' "I've mastered the staff, double-edged sword, and twin sabres."

"Twin sabres?"

She withdrew two long thin blades too long to be knives, but too short to be swords. "Sabres," she repeated. "It's really not a pleasant time if you get cut or stabbed or sliced with one or both of these. As an added plus, almost no one else uses them. So it confuses the hell out of most enemies. Which is good, because the crater is probably filled with more of those wolves and other mutant creatures."

"Mutant creatures?" asked Yuffie, who was a most interesting shade of green.

"We are definitely stopping for aid in Undor-Hai," said Cloud.

Raieyana noticed she was surrounded by everyone else. "How much of this have you heard?" she asked.

"Well," said Ruther, "the first thing I heard was 'cut in half first, ask questions later.'" He grinned at Raieyana.

"C'mon, now that was an example of what not to do," said Legolas, "I learned that twin sabre are these things that nobody knows about and they really confuse people."

"Would Lia be an asset to our party?" asked Red XIII.

"Of course," said Raieyana, "and she has lots of people who would love to help us, since it has been so boring over there."

"Wonder what it's like to live in a place that's boring..." said Barret.

.

Chapter 14

(God this is hard work. Never exercised so much in my life.) Reeve wondered how they were going to be able to stop Sephiroth if they were going to get all worn out first at Undor-Hai. (The only people who don't look exhausted are Yuffie, Cloud, and Raieyana. Well, Ruther and Legolas just broke a sweat, but the rest of us?) Cid was wheezing, finally showing side-effects from the chain-smoking. (Note to self: quit smoking after all the crater stuff is over. But I really need one now...) Reeve felt his pockets for his cigarettes, but they weren't there. (I did not leave them in my bag, did I?)

"Okay," said Lia, "now for training on separate weapons. First up, guns and projectiles. Throwing stars, bow and arrows, etc."

"Are you trying to kill me?" asked Barret.

Raieyana, who was still exercising, said, "Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Besides, gun training doesn't take as much energy as, for example, staff training or double-edged sword training."

"Oh, and Yuffie," said Lia, "be sure to stick around after this for training on that spiral of yours. Those of you who don't use guns or projectiles can go for break now. I'm sure Ray can get you guys some refreshments."

Raieyana half-jogged back to Lia's house. Reeve was absolutely amazed. (How does she still have a spring in her step? Maybe she's used to this, but God...)

"Okay," she said, "we have any kind of fruit juice imaginable..."

"How about beer?" asked Cid.

She shook her head. "No, sorry. You can help yourselves to food in the cabinets, but a word of advice: Don't eat too much before you go back to weapons training." She got herself some water and sat down. She started examining her staff. Reeve sat down next to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Well," she said, "if my weapons needed to be repaired, now would be the time to have it done. But the staff looks okay." She took out the sabres.

"What are those made of?" asked Cloud with a mouthful of food.

"Crystal. Any nick in the blade and the whole thing might shatter. But I don't see any in either of them." She put them away.

"What about the sword?" asked Reeve.

"Since I've never used it, there should be no problem," she said. She looked at Cloud's large plate of food. "You really shouldn't be eating all that. Makes it really hard to work out later."

"So," he said, "I'm hungry."

"Well," she said, getting up, "I'm going to go change into something more suitable for weapons training. Don't want to restrict my movement, you know." She walked to her room, with Tifa following. Cloud took a large bite into his third bean sprout sandwich.

.

Raieyana opened her closet and took out an old "Junon Academy" T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of shorts.

"Wear the shorts," said Tifa.

"Oh," said Raieyana, "you surprised me. But I am wearing the shorts. These pants were just in the way." She quickly changed.

"I wonder what he sees in you," said Tifa.

"Huh?"

Tifa stood up. "Cloud. And Reeve. What do they see in you that they don't see in me? I just thought maybe you had some idea, that's all."

(A lot less silicone, perhaps... Well, I can't say that to her face.) "Ummm, I didn't know Cloud saw anything in me," said Raieyana, purposely avoiding the subject of Reeve for the time-being.

"Well, he does. I don't know what it could be, since I'm better-looking, smarter, stronger..."

(More conceited, maybe?) "To each his own, I guess," said Raieyana, "maybe they just have a less cultured taste, to not want you." (Boy am I the queen of b.s., or what? Right now, she's making me want to leave the room. Wonder what the guys' reactions were when she was coming on to them?)

"That's probably it," said Tifa, "Cloud's just attracted to you because you've got the whole Jenova thing inside, and Reeve..."

"Yes, what about Reeve?" Raieyana asked.

"...just has psychological problems, obviously. After all, he worked for Shinra for eight years, straight out of business school." However, Tifa was aware of the more tasteful approach of Raieyana's T-shirt and shorts getup. (Well, if you got it, no use in hiding it. And that Raieyana, she definitely has not got it.) Tifa left Raieyana, who was now puzzled.

(Does she actually realize the way she's acting? I mean, it's probably not acting, but she really needs to take a long look at herself. What do they see in me that they don't see in her? And the funny thing is, I always thought that Tifa really cared about Cloud.)

************

It was night. Finally. Reeve was completely and utterly exhausted, mentally and physically. (_Slash, stab, block. Slash, stab, block._) Lia's commands still echoed through his skull three hours later. (I could do it all in my sleep, for crying out loud.) He pulled out his knives and went through the exercises, ending with the crossed block. He sighed and put them away. He remembered more of the lesson. (_"Mastery is more than these simple techniques, but mastery includes these techniques. Without them, you cannot effectively use the weapon."_) Raieyana hadn't joined them for that particular training session. She had gone to get some more people to go with them to the crater. (Wish she would have been there. I haven't seen her since she left.)

"Reeve," said Raieyana, "you look really tired." She sat down next to him. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Ray, I was just thinking about you," he said.

"Wonderful," she said. But her voice was sad.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"If Cloud did something else to me, because of Sephiroth, would you forgive him?"

He took her hand. "Of course. I know it wouldn't be his fault," he said.

"Well, what if," she said, "what if he killed me? Would you forgive him then?"

He looked at her, stunned. "Well, Ray, I would understand it wasn't his fault, but I don't know if I'd ever forgive and forget. If you died, that is. Why do you want to know these things?"

"Reeve," she said, "I've been thinking about a lot of things. My dream, for one thing. I die in my dream. And it has made me wonder if maybe I would have to die to stop all this. Like Aeris. Could you forgive him if it happened like that?"

"But Ray, why do you keep asking me if I would forgive him if he killed you?" he asked.

"Because I want you, if anything happens to me, to blame no one but Sephiroth, no matter how it all occurs."

He hugged her. "Fine," he said, "I understand what you want."

"If something happens to me..."

"Ray," Reeve said sharply, "nothing is going to happen to you. I'll make sure of it."

She smiled. "I know. But just in case... I am planning to make a memorial, up here in Undor-Hai, for everyone I loved that has died. Aeris, Tseng, my aunt, Aysta, Blane, and Ish. I just want you to know that if something happens, I would want you to do this, and put me there with them."

"Fine, Ray," said Reeve, "I promise you I will do this, in the unlikely occurrence of something happening to you."

She leaned into his shoulder. "That's all I wanted to know," she said. (I hope he will understand, when it all falls into place. That the blame would not lie on him, but elsewhere.)

.

Chapter 15

Early morning. Lia was instructing Ruther on proper axe swinging. "Now don't put too much of your weight into it, because if your axe gets deflected, so do you." He gave a light half-swing onto the dummy. The dummy's head rolled away down the floor. "Right. Not too much power, because it decapitates all the same, even with just a little bit of effort." Raieyana walked into the room.

She stopped and picked up the dummy's head. "I think you'll want this back, Lia," she said.

"Well Ray," asked Lia, "what can I do for you?"

"If you weren't busy, I was going to ask you to spar with me," she said.

Ruther replaced the dummy's head. "It's okay," he said, "we're basically done here. I'll watch." He went and reclined on a gymnast's vault horse.

"Staff or sword or sabre?" asked Lia. Raieyana took out her staff. Lia smiled, and took out hers. "Ruther, count to three."

"One, two, three!"

The two girls were a whirl of parries and blocks. Then they jumped back. Out came the blades on both of the staffs. Raieyana did a little quick twist and disarmed Lia. Then Lia was on her back with a blade at her throat. "I can't spar with you anymore, Ray," she said, "you're too fast for me."

Raieyana bit her lip. "But there isn't anyone else as good as you," she said.

"Ray, you're better than me," said Lia, getting up, "grasshopper, you're training is over. It's all in God's hands now. But I bet you could spar with me on an axe. Or with Ruther."

Raieyana wrinkled her nose. "I hate axes," she said.

"I know," said Lia, handing her an axe.

"Thanks, Lia," she said sarcastically.

"Get up Ruther. It's your turn," said Lia, "one, two three!"

Raieyana's first swings were tentative, learning the weight of the axe. Ruther swung at her--hard. She blocked it and he fell right down on his butt. Lia shook her head. "Don't put so much weight on a swing, especially against Ray. She's defensive with an axe, because she really hates the thing."

Raieyana gave the axe back. "Sure, tell him my technique. Well, I should probably get the other guys breakfast now."

"Ray, who decided to go with us?" asked Lia.

"Camilla, Blake, Drake, and..."

"Quake," said Lia, "so, Camilla and the triplets. Well, now we have four men on axes. This is going to be interesting. Go have breakfast, Ray." Raieyana smiled, and left. Lia picked up her axe. "Now Ruther, like this," she said, demonstrating the proper swing for the second time.

************

(Raieyana is an excellent cook. I hardly miss the meat.) "Compliments to the chef," said Barret, as Raieyana came back from the kitchen with his third helping.

"Tifa helped me cook. But they were my recipes," she said modestly.

"So," said Cloud, "we leave tomorrow morning?"

"That's the plan," said Raieyana, "then we split up and search for the spot the spell was cast to begin with and there..."

"It all ends," said Cid.

"It all ends," murmured Raieyana. Her mind was on a manic spree, recalling everything from song lyrics to the memory of her dream. (_I want to capture this moment as it floats beyond the skies/And hide beneath the wings of a bluebird as she flies..._ This is my last full day on earth. I want to savor everything, look at everything, try to memorize every detail, everything. But there was no malice in his eyes, not even in the dream...)

Suddenly, Lia and Ruther walked into the room. "We didn't miss all your wonderful cuisine, I hope?" she asked.

"There's plenty in the kitchen," Raieyana said blankly. Then she got up and went to her room. Cloud got up, wiping his face with a napkin.

"I should probably get back to practicing my sword-swinging," he said. In actuality, he followed Raieyana to her room.

.

"Ray," Cloud said, leaning in her doorway. She looked up from where she was sitting on her bed, deep in thought.

"Don't call me that," she said.

"Why not?" he asked. "Reeve calls you that all the time."

"Maybe it makes me uncomfortable when you do it."

"Raieyana, I really want to apologize for what happened in Junon. I hoped that you'd forgive me. I never would want to do anything to hurt you," he said.

"Cloud, you scared me. I wasn't afraid exactly of whether or not I would have been injured. Physical injuries heal quickly. What were you trying to do to me? I'm not going to try to answer that question, Cloud. It makes me uneasy just to think about it. But every time you have tried to talk to me or do anything since then, that question comes back to haunt me. And the truth is, I don't really want to know what would have happened if you hadn't regained control of yourself. But I think I may learn anyway, if you and I are ever alone again."

("_What does he see in you?"_

I wish he didn't see anything, Tifa, I swear to God...)

"Raieyana... Please, if you'd just let me try to make it up to you, maybe you'd..."

"Cloud," she said, "leave me alone, please."

"I just want to get to know you better. What happened there was not my fault. Raieyana, I really like you. A lot."

"I'm sorry, Cloud. No."

"Why not?" he asked.

She looked at him. (He really is serious about this. Then I'll give him a serious answer.) "Cloud... I'm in love with Reeve," she said, "even if the thing in Junon had never happened. I still..."

"You know what, Raieyana," Cloud said, "I really did have strong feelings for Aeris. She died and then you came...it was like a miracle. You're two totally different people, but I saw the same things I loved in her, in you--and then some. Reeve might not know it, but if he's got you, then he has the one person in this world who is absolutely perfect."

Raieyana shook her head. "I'm not perfect." (If I was perfect, I could have saved Ishmael. If I was perfect, he wouldn't be dead. If I was perfect, I wouldn't die tomorrow by Reeve's hand.)

"Tomorrow--the crater," said Cloud.

"Yes," she said, "tomorrow it all ends." (Here I arrive at the beginning of the end. Is there a Promised Land? I don't know. If there is, will I finally see it with my own eyes? Tomorrow the last of the Cetra dies; but Sephiroth will never return. That is my reward, but what will be the cost to the Planet? Could it be greater than the price of Sephiroth's return?)


	5. Part 5: Final Fantasy

Part 5- Final Fantasy

Chapter 16

The day had gone by quickly, full of training and preparation for the journey the next day. Everyone agreed that Lia, Camilla, Blake, Drake, and Quake would be a great addition to the party. They were all gathered in Lia's dining room for dinner. Raieyana sat and picked at her plate. (This is too much like the Last Supper for my taste. Or maybe like my last meal before I go to the electric chair.) She got up. "We have an early start tomorrow and I'm tired, so I'm going to wash up and go to bed."

"Sounds like a good idea," said Yuffie, getting up as well. Vincent and Reeve stood up simultaneously.

"Boy," said Reeve, yawning, "I'm exhausted." He quickly followed Raieyana. Vincent and Yuffie left the room without so much as another word.

"What was that all about?" asked Barret.

"I know exactly what it's about," said Cloud.

"Yup," said Cid, "me, too." Everyone waited, expecting to hear their explanation, but they went back to their desserts.

"So?" said Barret.

"I said I knew; I didn't say I was going to tell you," said Cid.

"Why you little drunk bastard..." Barret leaped across the table, aiming for Cid's neck.

Tifa grabbed his collar and yanked him back into his chair. "With everyone so tense, sleep sounds like a very good idea to me," she said.

Cloud snorted. "I don't think sleep is what those guys had in mind," he said, referring to Reeve and Raieyana, and Vincent and Yuffie.

Tifa threw her napkin on the table and got up. "I'm going to bed before I lose my temper. However, this solution has come a little too late for some of us." She stormed out of the room.

"Well," said Lia, "I guess the vote is for bedtime. Everyone has rooms, right?"

"Pssst, Lia," Camilla whispered loudly, "I live here. I'll just go back to my house." The joke put everyone in a good mood, except Barret, who was still sulking over Tifa's scolding.

Cloud heard a strange sound coming from under the table. He lifted up the tablecloth and looked. (Aww, Red's purring. He's sound asleep, curled up like a kitty. Wonder if he'd like a catnip mouse?)

************

"Big day tomorrow," said Reeve.

"Yes," said Raieyana.

"Ray, you have me worried," he said, "you've been acting weird all day."

"Guess I've just been excited for tomorrow, like everyone else. Oh, by the way, Cloud came on to me."

Reeve looked at her. "Tifa came on to me the other day."

Raieyana laughed. "So that's what that whole thing was about!"

"What thing?" he asked.

"Yesterday, I think it was," she said, "Tifa came in here and she asked me, 'What does he see in you?' And so I say, 'Who?' She says, 'Oh, Cloud. And Reeve. I just thought you might know, that's all.' So then she goes into this whole big thing about how much better she is than me, blah, blah, blah, and the entire time, I'm thinking, 'If she has this wonderful opinion of herself, maybe that's what Cloud doesn't like.'"

"She told me Cloud had the hots for you the other day," he said.

"Is that the word she used? 'Hots?'"

Reeve shook his head. "That's my own personal addition," he said, "and believe me, Ray, it suits you."

"I know." She glanced at him. "You would look pretty decent yourself, if you ever wore something besides that boring suit."

"Only decent?" Reeve threw a pillow at her. It missed by a wide margin.

She picked it up and put it back on the bed, smiling sadly. (How many more moments like this would there be, if I didn't have to... Or moments with Ish, if he hadn't of...)

.

They were startled by a loud bang on the wall. "Ray, who's next door?" asked Reeve.

"Yuffie, I think," she said. Then they heard Yuffie's moan of "Ow, my head," and Raieyana's guess was confirmed. "Well, all I have to say is that those two must have a fairly interesting relationship over there; that's for certain."

Reeve acted offended. "I'm not interesting?" He pulled her towards him and kissed her softly.

Raieyana was pretty sure what he was getting at. She pulled away. "Reeve..." (What are you going to tell him? You're not in the mood tonight? This is the last night, your only night left with him.)

"It's okay, Ray," he said, "if you don't want to..."

She shook her head. "I was just going to tell you that I love you."

"Well if that's all..." He pulled her close again. "...I love you, too."

************

"Vincent," said Yuffie, "maybe we should tell the others about us."

"Why?"

"Well, that wasn't exactly the most eloquent scene after dinner. Actually, we probably came off as pretty strange."

Vincent shrugged. "They already think that I'm strange."

"Not me. And I'd like it to stay that way. As it is, they think I'm really selfish," said Yuffie.

"The one thing I can say for you, Yuffie Kisaragi, is you are definitely not as selfish as you appear on the surface."

Yuffie rubbed her sore head. "At least somebody gives me credit for my good qualities."

"I think they all would, if they knew you like I do," he said.

She laughed. "I don't think my poor head could take that."

Vincent's eyes widened. "I didn't mean if they knew you that well! I hope no one else ever gets that pleasure."

"Except you?" asked Yuffie.

He kissed her. "No one ever will but me, if I have it my way."

************

At about one in the morning, Reeve sat up, having woken up from a startling dream. Raieyana, in his arms, was forced to sit up along with him. "Reeve?" she said, opening her eyes, "you okay?"

He got up and walked to his bag. "I need a smoke," he said. He looked at her sheepishly. "I'm trying to quit."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," she said, "I've been known to have an occasional one myself."

Reeve was amazed. "Really?"

She shook her head. "No. Just trying to make you feel better about it. Just crack the window. Lia can't stand the things and would kill me if the room smelled like smoke." Her words died. (Not the greatest choice of words, considering tomorrow--no today, I won't be here anymore.)

Her remark had shaken Reeve up as well. His fingers were trembling so much, he could barely light up his cigarette. He took a long drag; it gave him no pleasure. (I doubt Lia's ever going to kill you, Ray. Especially not if I... Gotta get a hold of myself. It was just a dream.

_"Some dreams are premonitions..."_) Sephiroth's voice rang through his head, like in the dream.

"Reeve," said Raieyana, "what's bothering you? Did you have a bad dream?" (Can he know? Will he try to fight it? Does he hear Sephiroth's voice, too?) She got up and touched his arm. It was still shaking.

"Sometimes, sometimes," he whispered, "I wonder if you're just a dream."

She leaned on his arm. "Maybe I am," she said, "but not tonight."

He put out the half-smoked cigarette and held her tightly in his arms. "Then we have tonight, even if you've gone by tomorrow," he said.

"Reeve...it is tomorrow," she said.

"Well then, I just want you to know that I love you, Ray, and I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know. But today is going to be a long day. Today is the end."

He held her at arm's length and looked her in the eye. "The end of what?"

"Sephiroth," she said, "what did you think I meant?"

He shook his head. "I was just being stupid."

"Reeve, you're not stupid."

"Well," he said, "we all say stupid things."

"What you said wasn't stupid."

"Fine, it was a very intelligent thing to say. Anything to stop this pointless arguing. We should probably try to get some more sleep."

Raieyana smiled. "For once, I was having a good night's sleep."

"Sorry for ruining it," he apologized.

"I've ruined enough of yours," she said, "I guess we're just a couple of God-forsaken insomniacs."

"God-forsaken. What made you say that?" he asked.

"Lack of sleep."

"Fine, Ray, I get the hint."

She looked at him. "No more bad dreams after this. Either of us. Big day today."

He pulled her back into bed with him. "Deal," he said.

.

Chapter 17

(Almost time...) Sephiroth felt a rush of pleasure as he pictured his return to glory and power. (I will control the world. All people shall become my slaves. Cloud will make an entertaining jester... I don't know where Meteor is, but that was getting boring anyway. Mutate will hold my attention for a long time. After all, Aysta was kept well amused by it. My poor daughter. Well, Raieyana will pay...with her blood. And after she dies, I will completely control him. My puppet. Oh, how my dream terrified his simple mind. And it was only the near future. I can only imagine what it would do to him to see the events of the rest of his life--my life. If he thinks Raieyana's death an atrocity, wait until he sees what I have in store for him... But now, they approach me, unaware that their mission will ultimately lead to a disaster...)

************

Reeve woke up from another hideous dream. Raieyana was getting dressed. She turned around and walked over to the bed. "Are you okay?" she asked.

He quickly nodded. (Keep strong. She has enough troubles of her own without you adding yours on top of them. Dreams are just fabricated by the subconscious. I just need to give mine a nice, big slap across the face for scaring the hell out of me.)

She looked at him closely. "I don't believe you. But I guess you don't want to talk about it," she said.

"You never wanted to tell me about your dream, Ray," he said.

"I didn't want to weigh you down with my problems."

"Ray, the feeling's mutual."

"Fine," she said, "but I could carry the weight all the same. Just pass some trouble my way when it gets unbearable. I'm stronger than you might think."

"I don't think you're weak," he said, "that's not the reason at all." (But knowing about this dream could change the way you look at what we have to do today. I don't want to affect this mission with fear. I'll be scared alone--so Ray can destroy Sephiroth along with my fears.)

"Reeve, get dressed. I have a feeling we're leaving soon."

"What, no breakfast? You're sure a poor hostess, Ray." She threw a pillow at him. It hit him square in the mouth.

"I'm going to start cooking right now, smart-ass," she said, "I just thought you'd want to be wearing something besides boxers and a grungy old T-shirt when you came to eat it. Wait, what does that T-shirt say?" She walked back over to him.

He shrugged. "It's a really old one," he said.

She pulled down the blanket and read the faded lettering. "I'll be damned. Junon Academy."

"What's the big deal?" he asked. "It's not like I constantly wear it, like that big ol' locket of yours."

She touched the gold locket softly. "My fath--, I mean, Tseng gave it to me..." She walked over to the hamper and pulled out the one she had worn earlier. "Anyway, Junon Academy's my old alma mater, too, Reeve."

"When'd you graduate, Ray? Ten years after me, right?" he asked.

She smiled. "Actually, eight. I skipped two grades. I was eleven when I graduated."

"Fine," he said, "go, my intelligent woman, while I dress, and cook some of your delicious food."

She raised an eyebrow. "I would take that as an insult if I thought you didn't love me so much," she said.

"Insult? I was complimenting your culinary skills. And your brain. So let me compliment your ass as I see it walking out the door. It will give me something to contemplate while I put on some clothes."

"Contemplate this." She picked up the pillow and took a few swipes at him before walking out the door. "Oh, Reeve," she called, "you should probably go see if Yuffie and Vincent have rejoined the land of the living after that violent episode last night."

************

"Yuffie?" Reeve knocked on the door of Yuffie's bedroom.

"Gawd, Vincent, again? Don't you ever sleep?" was her muffled reply. Then he heard Vincent's voice clearly.

"That wasn't me, Yuffie."

Yuffie screamed. "There's a strange man in here?!"

Reeve knocked again. "No, just me. I'm outside the room and hopefully not what you'd consider a strange man." Vincent got up and opened the door. He looked perfectly normal, except for the fact he was wearing Yuffie's shorts. "Ray told me to wake you guys up," said Reeve, seeing Vincent's apparel, "we heard you last night, and I thought you might be tired, but I wasn't expecting this..."

"What?" asked Vincent.

Reeve gestured towards the shorts. Vincent, finally realizing what he was wearing, turned a nice, warm beet-red color. "I'll see you at breakfast when you guys get dressed," said Reeve, leaving. "Hopefully in clothes you can fight in," he added. He couldn't help himself.

************

"How can I beef up for a fight without any meat?" asked Barret.

"You could not use the term 'beef,'" said Legolas, always helpful. "The term 'bulk up' would be more appropriate. Besides, 'bulk' makes you think of fiber instead of meat."

"Legolas, you missed my point entirely. I want some meat with this meal!"

"Well," said Lia, "I don't allow any meat in my house, so if you want a meal before you leave, you'll accept my vegen thing. Or at least put up with it one last time."

"It's not that I don't like meat in some things, it's just a fact that no one here eats any meat. So I get my protein fill when I'm away from Undor-Hai," said Raieyana.

"Carnivore," muttered Lia.

"Damn straight," she shot back.

"Anyway, Barret," said Legolas, "there isn't any meat, so we'll have to make do."

Tifa stabbed a strawberry with her fork. "I bet plants feel pain when you kill them just like animals..." She put it in her mouth and chewed, casting a glance at Lia to see what her reaction would be.

"I never considered that before..." she said.

"Don't," said Raieyana, "you have to eat something, Lia. If you stopped at plants, that would leave fungus, algae, and one-celled organisms, which aren't very appetizing."

"There's mushrooms," said Tifa, "not to mention truffles..."

"Okay, Tifa you live off a diet of fungus, and report back to Lia right before you die of malnutrition," Raieyana said.

"I'm changing the subject now," said Reeve, "now, Ray, Lia, this food is delicious, even without the meat, fungus, and protazoans."

"Raieyana will respond to that when she figures out whether or not that was an actual compliment," said Yuffie.

"What was wrong with what I said?" he asked.

"All the crap about fungus and protazoans. Don't know about anyone else, but not while I'm eating..." She did look slightly green.

"Sorry. I forgot about your weak digestive system."

"Excuse me." Yuffie ran to the bathroom. Vincent looked a little worried.

"I hope she's okay," said Red XIII, "we need everyone to be in their best condition down in the crater."

"Are you okay, Cloud?" asked Tifa, "you haven't said much of anything.

"That's because," he said, swallowing, "I've been stuffing my face with this tasty food." He nodded at Raieyana.

She looked away. (Somehow a compliment from him is impossible to take. At least when he looks at me that way. With desire. Longingly. And not just because he wants another helping.)

"So we're leaving soon, right?" said Ruther.

"Then I'll go outside and have one last smoke," said Cid.

Blake, Drake, and Quake stood up. "Can I bum one off you?" they all asked at the same time.

Cid looked in his pack. (Five left.) "Okay, but just one apiece," he said. They all walked outside.

Lia hopped up and started clearing the table. "Ray," she said, "go see how Yuffie's feeling."

.

Yuffie was seated in front of the toilet. She looked up as Raieyana walked in. "I don't know what's wrong with me today," she said, "I usually don't get ground-sick. I just woke up this morning and felt all weird. Maybe I have the touch of the flu. But it doesn't feel like I'm sick from something..."

"Well, Yuffie," began Raieyana. She looked around, then she shut the door behind her. "You're either sick from something, or..." She leaned closer. "Yuffie, can I ask you a personal question?"

Yuffie gave her a strange look. "Sure, I guess. Shoot."

"How long has it been since you and Vincent first, umm, the first time you two..."

"I know what you're driving at. Somewhere around...like twelve days ago...when we were in Wutai...almost two weeks. Are you implying that I caught some kind of thing from him?"

"If you regard it as catching something, then I guess, yeah," said Raieyana, "but pregnancy isn't generally considered something you can catch."

"Preg--," said Yuffie, "no, not that! For christsakes, I'm only sixteen. I'm not...pregnant." Her voice trailed into a whisper.

"Well, I'm not saying it's that for certain," said Raieyana, "but it is definitely a possibility that you should be prepared for. After all, what the hell did you think was going to happen?"

"Raieyana, it's not like being with him was my purpose going into it all. I didn't even mean for anything to happen. It wasn't like I had this plan of 'invite him to my house, give him a replacement for the All he gave my father, then sleep with him.' It wasn't on my list of things to do for that day. So what am I going to tell Vincent? How would you tell Reeve?"

Raieyana was startled. (If that was the worst of my problems...but it's not. I would trade with you if I had the chance, Yuffie.) "What makes you think that there would ever be a possibility of me needing to tell Reeve anything of the sort?" she asked.

"Come off your high horse," said Yuffie, "and stop pretending you two haven't done anything. Now give me a suggestion."

"The truth! I would tell him the truth."

"Well, I'm not telling Vincent now, or he won't let me go to the crater with the rest of you."

"However much you hate it, that's not such a bad idea. Maybe you should stay here," said Raieyana.

"The hell I am! You said yourself you weren't sure that was the reason why I have a touch of...of nausea."

Raieyana shook her head. "Now I am. Morning sickness, mood swings... I highly doubt it's anything else besides that. But I guess it wouldn't be a threat to you to go. After all, I'm the only one who'll be doing anything dangerous." They both got up to leave.

"Raieyana," said Yuffie, "tell Vincent I'm feeling better now. I think I'm going to go change into something else."

"Why?" asked Raieyana.

"It's probably nothing, but these shorts feel a little loose. Like they've been stretched out or something..."

.

Chapter 18

(How are we supposed to find the spot the first spell was cast? All of the old tunnels collapsed. I guess we'll have to do it by feel. I hope we don't come across the remains of anyone. They already will leave with a big enough nightmare than they would ever want to see.) She glanced at Reeve. "Do you see anything familiar?"

"Nope," he said, "just the ordinary cold, dark, damp, dreary Northern Craterness. Although I wouldn't call anything about this place ordinary."

"Then why did you?" asked Barret angrily.

"Damn it, Barret! You have to calm down those nerves!" Everyone looked at Tifa after her outburst. "...so do I, I suppose," she said.

"Wh...what nerves?" asked Barret. He looked down at his shaking hand. He held it close to stop the movement. "I ain't nervous," he declared. They came to the first fork in the new tunnel.

"What now?" asked Ruther. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"That way," said Raieyana and Reeve simultaneously, each pointing to a different path.

"Raieyana's right," said Cloud softly.

Raieyana looked at him. (This whole situation is a little too serious to try to win my affection by agreeing with me. This won't be a trivial decision.) He looked right back at her, directly in the eye. (But I don't think that's why he agreed with me. Am I right?)

Vincent nodded. "Has to be the way to go."

"Why?" asked Reeve.

"It's the only way," said Legolas.

"Logical choice," said Red XIII.

"Why?" asked Reeve.

"We can't take any other path but this," said Ruther. No one else had said anything.

"Why?" asked Reeve, for the third time.

"I know it is," said Raieyana.

"If so many of us feel so strongly about it," said Lia, "and no one has any idea at all, I don't think we can sit here and think of a reason. It will just waste our time. If we haul ass, even if they're wrong, it won't be too late to turn around and go Reeve's way." They started down the tunnel of Raieyana's choice.

Reeve's vision came in a flash. (_"Did you think you sensed me? You will never feel me...because I'll always be right with you..."_

Now he's taunting me. He's wrong, though. I will never lift even a finger to harm Ray. No matter what the hell he tries to do to me.) Cid fell onto him.

"Reeve, you okay, man?"

He nodded. "Fine, Cid." The tunnel ahead divided into three paths this time.

Barret, who had somehow managed to stumble his way to the head of the party, looked up in confusion. "I'm just going to ask those with the 'Sephiroth Positioning Systems' come up here and figure out where the hell we're going to go!"

Cloud pointed to the middle. "That way."

"No," said Raieyana.

"Where, then, Ray," he said.

She closed her eyes, ignoring how he had called her by her nickname and his ugly tone of voice. A soft voice whispered in her ear. (_"Go right...and you will find him."_) "Right."

"No," said Cloud, "the center path is where Sephiroth is."

"Let's go left," suggested Yuffie, "it's the only fair compromise."

"This isn't something that can be compromised," said Raieyana.

"I think I would know something like this better," he continued.

"Well, you're wrong, Cloud. And it's probably not going to be the last time. He's pointing you wrong on purpose. I also have the urge to go that way, but..."

"Then why don't you," said Blake, "I'm sick and tired of sitting here." He was the only one of the Undorians besides Lia who had gotten up the nerve to butt into one of the party's arguments.

"Because it's a misdirection," said Raieyana, "and I am not going any way except for the path that leads to Sephiroth. And the one that does is the one on the right."

"Cloud, if she feels so strongly," began Tifa.

"Tifa," Cloud interrupted, "I feel just as strongly as she does. Strongly that she's going to die if she goes that way."

(But that's what has to happen, Cloud... So he feels something, too. And maybe even the right vibes.) "Cloud," Raieyana said, "I can handle myself. No matter what is on the path ahead of us. Whatever danger lurks around the bend of that tunnel, we have to face it. If you have worries about me, worry as we head towards them. We're going to have to confront him again. Even if this time it's something we can't see, something some of us can't even feel. There will be risks. I think anyone who isn't prepared to handle them should probably go and walk back the Airship and wait for us to finish what we came to do here."

"I can handle them," said Reeve.

(He answered so quickly. Sephiroth wouldn't let him turn away now, even if he wanted to. Reeve, please be able to handle the aftermath...the consequences of my...) "Anyone else?" she asked.

"We are all going to be able to handle this," said Cloud, "my concern was for your safety."

"I'll be fine."

"Then I guess we're going right," he said. The journey continued, reluctantly, to the right tunnel.

(_"Ray, you okay?"_

Just fine. I have to be strong. There will probably be more setbacks. We'll have to handle them, no matter what happens.

_"I would take you by the hand and lead you to him if I could..."_

I know you would, Ish. But that's not possible.

_"I know..."_)

.

Raieyana noticed that Yuffie had fallen back a little from the rest of the group. She glanced at Vincent. (Trying to talk Cid out of having another cigarette.) She walked back to Yuffie. "Yuffie, what's wrong?"

She grimaced. "I feel sick again. I just want to be able to duck around a corner and get it all out without anyone else hearing. Don't want to make them sick, too."

"Yuffie, it's not safe for you to be so far back. There were some pretty dangerous things in here last time. I don't doubt that they've multiplied."

"Raieyana," Yuffie said, "I don't think many things could have multiplied while you've been away."

"They are mutants. You really never know with mutants. They might spawn. Or divide. Those methods allow for rapid multiplication..."

Yuffie wrinkled her nose. "You're not helping..." She held her stomach.

"Is there a problem?" The two girls looked up and saw Vincent. "Yuffie, are you sick?" he asked, concerned.

"Just probably a little bug," she said. She glanced at Raieyana, who looked at her, expectantly. Her look was saying "oh excuse me, I thought you were going to tell him what the problem actually was." "Vincent," Yuffie started reluctantly, "actually, it's not a bug."

"Then what is it?"

"To put it in layman's terms, I suppose that I might be--" They were interrupted by several growls.

"I hate wolves," said Raieyana.

.

The entire group was surrounded by a group of about forty wolves. However, that number was increasing rapidly.

"It looks like we're a free fry day at Burger King for them!" said Ruther. One wolf leaped into the air, aiming for Lia.

"Carnivore!" she yelled. Then she cut off its head with the blade of her axe. She headed towards another one. "The only blood you'll be tasting is your own!" Everyone else was busy killing and chopping and dicing wolves of their own.

A small pack had Yuffie cornered. She swiped with the Spiral Blade, but she was obviously ill. "Go away before I puke on you," she groaned. Raieyana noticed this and was just in time to block a wolf from attaching to Yuffie. Unfortunately, Raieyana accomplished this with her shoulder. There was a loud ripping sound. She turned to face the wolf.

"That was a brand new sweater," she muttered. She looked at it vengefully. The wolf started to whimper. "Yeah, I'd be running just about now if I were you," she threatened. "Oh, darn. You've waited a little too long. And I'm just too impatient, I guess." Everyone saw the flash of red.

"Who's having a Limit Break?" asked Barret, pulling out a bag of popcorn from his bag.

"Raieyana," said Cid, grabbing a handful.

"And this one obviously came from the Sephiroth side of the family," said Tifa, wincing as five more wolves went down with loud yelps.

"Neat," said Yuffie, "but she's goin' so fast it's making me motion sick." Raieyana suddenly snapped out of it. She shuddered and dropped the carcass of the wolf she had just decapitated with her bare hands.

"I hate wolves," she said sheepishly, "and it was a brand new sweater... Well, what are you staring at? Haven't you ever seen a Limit Break before?"

"Remind me to stay on her good side, Drake," Camilla whispered.

"Let's get going," said Cloud. They carefully stepped over the dead, bloody bodies of the wolves and continued.

"So, Yuffie," said Vincent, "what was it that you were going to tell me?"

"I'm--God, don't hate me, Vincent--pregnant."

"Don't hit me for saying this, Yuffie, but I was afraid that something was seriously wrong with you. Life-threatening. This is a relief."

"So you don't hate me?" said Yuffie.

"No. If I hated you for this, I would have to hate myself...and I just stopped hating myself, so I'm not too anxious to go back to that... But, Yuffie, you shouldn't have come here."

"I knew you'd say that. That's why I didn't tell you before we left. I couldn't just be left behind to wait. And Raieyana, she said something like she'd be the only one doing anything dangerous, so she thought I would be okay. I didn't expect to get sick. And the wolves..."

"I wonder why she said she'd be the only one doing anything dangerous... Well, I'll tell you what," Vincent said, "you stay and come along with us. I'll protect you. And we'll just avoid saying anything about this to anyone else for the time-being."

"Are you ashamed?" asked Yuffie.

"No, they'll just make me take you back to the Airship. I don't want to miss out on anything, either."

.

Chapter 19

"One more fork in the road," said Cloud, "I say left, so Raieyana wants right, of course."

(_"Why does he talk to you like that?"_

Ish, don't worry about it. What way should we go?

_"Which way do you think he is? I've only been telling you what you would have told yourself."_

I don't know...left?

_"Well, you're right. Go left."_) "Left is the way, Cloud," she said.

"I'm glad to hear Sephiroth hasn't muddled up my head this time," said Cloud sarcastically.

"Raieyana," said Legolas, "no offense. But I don't want to go in there, if that's where Blane... I can't."

"Then you don't have to," she said softly, "does anyone else want to stay here and wait?"

"Ray," said Lia. A tear slipped down her cheek.

And Raieyana then knew that Legolas had spoken on Lia's behalf. (She can't see where Aysta died.)

"We have to stay and protect Lia," said Quake.

"I understand," said Raieyana, "you came to help her. So help her. I trust everyone else is coming, then?" She looked around and when she met the eyes of each person, they nodded. "So let's go," she said. She turned towards the entrance to the tunnel.

"Wait," said Reeve, "you shouldn't go first, Ray. Someone else should...someone that Sephiroth wouldn't want. Do you know what I mean?"

"But you can't go in front without a better weapon," said Cloud. Raieyana reached for the Evenstar.

(It's like every word, every action, was scripted long, long ago. We're playing parts in a play where the script was written in stone. And we can't change a thing.) She handed him the sword. "Use this," Raieyana said. He headed into the dark cavern. And she followed, right behind him.

************

(You can't hurt her. Cloud can't hurt her. I have the sword and I will protect her.

_"Yes, and it was amazing to watch you protect her from Cloud when she was in Junon."_

I didn't know you were in him.

_"I wasn't in him. I don't manipulate him anymore. Now you..."_

Yeah, you're manipulating me right now. That's why I have free will. That's why you won't harm Ray at all. And she will destroy you.

_"And I will leave your head and you will live in harmony with your 3 kids and your dog, Spot. You'll be normal. She'll be normal. No more bad dreams. I hate to burst your bubble, but nothing ever happens like that."_

The hell would you know...

_"I know many things. I know why Cloud wants Raieyana so bad he would... I know why your mother died."_

I didn't do anything to her. She was a manic depressive, and she...

_"Yeah, that's what your nice psychiatrist told you when you paid him a couple hundred gil an hour to stop the voices in your head. I guess he was a rip-off, because here I am... I know why you couldn't prevent Shinra from destroying Sector 7. And I know why you're holding that sword. Because you are weak...weak, but still a good puppet."_)

************

Raieyana looked around. It was dark up ahead and she couldn't see Reeve anymore. "Reeve?" she called. "Come back, we can't see you."

"Okay, I'm coming," he said.

Then suddenly she was in the moment. (And everyone else is unaware. That I'm a sitting duck in the dark.) She saw his form walking closer in the darkness. (It comes down to this. I don't want to die.) There was the glint of the hard sword blade. (Reeve, I don't want to die.) It was thrust towards her.

"Hey, Reeve," said Barret slowly, "what're you doing?"

She was fully conscious of every feeling as the blade moved down through her and back out again. She saw Reeve's shocked expression, heard every sound as the sword clattered to the ground when he dropped it.

Finally having regained control of himself, he kneeled at her side. "Ray."

Cloud ran over and tried to get him away. "I think you've done enough."

"Wait," she whispered, "Reeve." And then everyone else was frozen where they stood, motionless, unable to do anything as the final moments came to pass. "You have to stop the spell." She swallowed. "Get the sword."

"Does it hurt bad, Ray?"

"Just get the sword." He grabbed the sword, trying to ignore how it was covered in Raieyana's blood. "We need Faith to stop him."

"The materia?" he asked, bewildered, "But we don't have it. We never had it, never found it. Did we come here for nothing?"

"The sword would never have been safe for anyone to have with all of the materia in it. And I guess I'm not able to trust anyone enough to... I had Faith the whole time."

"But we could have stopped Aysta before it came to this...why, Ray?" She tried to think of an answer to that question.

"Ish," she said, "he took the materia and brought it to Aysta. If we had Faith with it, Sephiroth would be walking among us now... I guess it really was better this way. The materia's in the locket...I wear...around my neck."

He reached down and opened the locket. A small white orb, the smallest of them all, lay inside. He placed it into the last slot on the sword. The materia started to glow instantly. He ignored it and turned to Raieyana, in time to see her close her eyes and take her last breath. (Well, Sephiroth, I guess we both lose.)

************

"Calm down, Lia." Legolas watched Lia as she paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the cavern.

"I can't. I don't know what to do. I know. I'll look at Ray's translation. She opened Raieyana's satchel and took out the notebook where she kept the translation. "Okay," said Lia, "surround the Black materia with the six White on a sword of thrice-tempered Adamantium." She looked at Legolas. "That's the Evenstar." She continued. "The sacrifice will be killed with this sword by the hand of a beloved killer..." She gasped. "What? And that's where she stopped translating. Do you think that it means she... It is her sword... Legolas, she's going to die. She just handed that sword to Reeve."

"And she knew what she was doing," said Legolas, "Lia, finish the translation. Maybe there's a way we can stop it. How fast can you translate?"

She shook her head. "I'm not that good. But this looks pretty easy. And it's short." She studied the glyphs. "...then...Black...materia...will be...destroyed...and...the spell...will...be..."

************

Raieyana was sitting in a grassy field. Above was a clear night sky filled with stars. She saw a man approaching.

"Ray," he said, coming closer.

(Is it?) Then she recognized his face. "Oh. Hi, Ish," she said, "I guess I'm dead now, right?" (It would be a beautiful scene if I didn't feel like my heart was about to explode with all this misery. I wonder how Reeve is?)

"Is it all right, Ray? I tried to make it look like that night so long ago, but I don't remember it that well anymore..."

"It wasn't that long ago," she said, "only a couple of years."

"But it's been such a long time, here, without you. I couldn't call it heaven, with all the pain I've felt..."

"Couldn't agree with you more," said Raieyana, "especially the pain. I might call it hell as soon as I get over the shock of, you know, not living. But it's wonderful seeing you again. I've missed you so much..."

"Yeah," he said sadly, "I've missed you, too." (And I will miss you...)

************

"Ray," Reeve whispered. One of his tears fell on her cheek.

Cloud reached down and felt her neck. "No pulse," he said softly. Suddenly, Mutate was destroyed is a burst of bright light. Yuffie gasped and Vincent held her closer. But Reeve's eyes were only on Raieyana's face.

(She trusted me. And I...all I am is weak. Why didn't I just stay away from her? I destroyed her.) Behind him, the first White materia began to glow even brighter...

************

(...when you leave me again.) "Ray," said Ish, "you're not going to stay here."

"What?"

"Something tells me that you never finished the entire translation...if you had, then you would know."

"Know what?" she asked.

"Would you kiss me good-bye?" he said, "I never got to when I was alive, but now you're here--no matter how briefly..."

"What would I know?" she asked.

"Please," he pleaded.

"No," she said, "tell me. Why would we say good-bye?"

"When you go back," he said bitterly. He looked at her. "You still don't get it? You're not really dead permanently." He pushed something towards her.

"This looks like the Ancient scroll I was translating," she said.

He shrugged. "Close. It's an image of it. Everything here is an image, just like this sky is an image of the one from our past. Look at the words you never bothered to read."

************

Lia was interrupted by a blast of bright light from the cavern. "God," whispered Legolas, "has it happened already?"

"...the spell...will be...transferred...into...the one...which has been killed."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"The first spell...the one Aysta cast...Raieyana said it was successful... It was a resurrection spell," she said, "but I don't know if I should even hope...we never even found one of the White materia."

************

"Ish?" she asked. "Will I be resurrected?"

"Something could always go wrong," he said hopefully, "maybe Aysta cast the original spell incorrectly."

"I won't be dead. I'll get another chance..."

"Just consider, Ray. Reeve killed you. You shouldn't forgive him for that."

She looked at him. "You led me to my death. Maybe I shouldn't forgive you for that."

"Ray, I had to."

"Reeve also had no choice. I wonder how long it will take to get back. I wish it would hurry."

"Ray," Ishmael whispered, "I love you."

She shook her head. "I love you, too, Ish. But I can't ever love you the way you love me. I wish I could..." She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. He turned his head and their lips touched... (I'll just let this happen. He really wants it. And we'll be apart again soon. I'll be able to tell Reeve how much I love him...)

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Chapter 20

Cloud looked at Reeve, disgusted. "You sicken me, you really do. You just gave in to his will and he took over. I guess he just picked the weakest of the lot this time to reduce his effort. And you just let him."

"Shut up, Cloud," said Yuffie, "it's not like you never tried to do the same thing to Aeris...or Raieyana."

"But I didn't," he said, "and that makes all the difference."

"...yeah, you just sat there and watched him kill her. Both Aeris and Raieyana. You did nothing at all. Yeah, that's a lot more manly than being overcome by Sephiroth's will, except, oh wait, you have. Many more times than Reeve."

"I fought it," he declared.

"So did I," said Reeve quietly, "do you think I wanted this?" The second and third materias now joined the first and waves of warmth and grace started to surround Raieyana's body.

Lia ran into the cavern. "How is she?" she asked. She saw the body and responded without batting an eye. "Still dead..." she murmured.

Tifa noticed the light when the fourth materia joined the first three. She watched in wonder as the fifth lit up and all of the colors of the rainbow floated around Raieyana. There was a burst of light brighter than the one that destroyed Mutate, that lasted longer. Everyone shielded their eyes, except Reeve.

He watched as the light surrounded Raieyana. (What's happening?) He saw Faith light up. Faith may have been the smallest of the White materia, but it shone the brightest. The wound in her chest slowly began to close. He touched her hand. (Still warm. Or is it getting warm again? No, nothing is happening. You're just getting delirious, like when Mom died.) But when he looked at her again, he noted with disbelief that she had begun to breathe again.

************

Raieyana and Ishmael broke apart. "I can't believe you let me..." he whispered.

"Ish," she said, "I have a feeling it's going to be a very long time before I see you again. I feel like I've started to return to life already..."

"You deserve to be happy," he said, sadly.

"So do you."

"I guess, but if one of us can be happy, maybe that will be enough."

"I'm fading."

"Good-bye, Ray. And no matter what happens to you in your life--I will always be watching over you, I promise. I love you."

************

(_"...I will always be watching over you, I promise. I love you."_

And I know.) Raieyana opened her eyes.

"Ray, I've gone insane," whispered Reeve, bending over her.

"Maybe we all need to be checked into the mental hospital," said Cid, "because I sure as hell see it, too." Vincent slapped him on the back of the head. She slowly sat up.

"Are you sure you should?" asked Cloud.

She looked at him. "It's funny," she said, "I have this...feeling. Do you know what it is? It's this feeling that you were saying some pretty nasty things while I was dead."

"You could hear me?" he asked.

"Well, I feel only this vague sense of nastiness. It was one of the many things that embittered my few moments of heaven." She looked at Reeve. "How are you doing?" she asked.

Reeve shook his head. "What? If I'm not mistaking, you're the one who just--and you're asking me--that's just screwed up. I'm just fine, compared to you."

She stood up and walked over to the sword. "The materia's all gone. I guess it used itself all up."

"Ray?" said Lia.

"Look," said Raieyana, "I'm fine. Guess what? One of the nice things about materia. It's magic. I'm healed. And I sure as hell want to get out of this place. Can we leave instead of hanging around with our mouths hanging open? Or at least start heading towards the Airship with our mouths open?" Raieyana led the awestruck and confused group towards the exit.

.

When they had returned to the place where wolves had first ambushed them, they saw that there was another large pack sniffing the bodies. The wolves, of course, hearing and smelling the group prepared to attack. Raieyana went after one wolf, only to find Reeve suddenly appearing to kill it. She went after another, but this time Cloud stepped in to prevent her from a fight. (Those two aren't going to let me kill any of the filthy beasts. I'm perfectly fine!) Everyone else was fighting, even Yuffie, which had Raieyana enraged. (She's pregnant, yet no one's protecting her from the vicious wolves. God, what is this crap? I'm not helpless.) She saw one wolf topple Reeve from behind. She ran over to kill it. (At least I can do something now.)

Cloud stepped in front of her. "I'll handle this," he said, killing the wolf.

"What the hell did you just do?" she asked.

"I killed an enemy, Raieyana." Sick and tired of the sarcasm and patronization, she went to slap him.

Reeve grabbed her hand in mid-air. "We're just protecting you," he said.

"Protecting me! We could have been done with the whole wolf mess at least an hour ago, if you had actually kept your mind on just the fighting and would have let me done what I could have, too. I'll tell you something. With all this stupid shit you've been doing between the two of you the last couple of hours, you have wasted everyone's time. Besides, I personally think it's a little too late to be having any concern for my well-being. I'm fine and have neither one of you to thank for it. Now if you think I'm strong enough, I'm going to go walk to the Airship and go home." She wrenched her hand free and started walking. She looked at Ruther. "What the hell are you staring at?" she snapped.

Cloud shrugged and started following her. "I suppose we should get going, before everyone in the outside world starts thinking we're all dead." Everyone started after Cloud.

Vincent turned around and saw Reeve hadn't budged. "Reeve, are you coming?"

He looked up and shrugged. "Of course."

"Look, Reeve," said Vincent, "it'll all work out. She's just pissed off because you wouldn't let her do anything."

"She could have hurt herself," Reeve said.

"She also could have hurt herself on the way in, but you sat back then and let her rip apart over half of the other pack of wolves. You might feel like you need to protect her, so what? She doesn't need any protection and she knows it. And I think you do, too."

"I didn't protect her from Sephiroth. I owe it to her."

Vincent shook his head. "I think, perhaps, maybe you couldn't protect her from Sephiroth. I also think that she knew that."

"I just want to make it up to her," Reeve said.

"That's wonderful," said Vincent. "However, it's obvious that being overprotective just isn't the way."

************

When they returned to Undor-Hai, their success was celebrated with the traditional bonfire party. Well, traditional for the Undorians, anyway. Yuffie tried not to look ill as Vincent roasted her a hot dog and some marshmallows. "C'mon, you have to eat something, if only for the baby," he said.

"Maybe she wants to eat something besides flesh or fluff," offered Lia, from her position on Legolas' lap.

Raieyana smiled briefly at the discussion. She looked through the fire and saw Reeve. (I wonder how he's doing. I don't know why I blew up at him in the crater. He wouldn't have been acting that way unless he cared about me.) He looked up and met her eyes. She looked away quickly. (That doesn't mean that he still does now, though.)

He slowly got up. "I'm tired," he said.

"But the party isn't over," said Tifa.

He glared at her. "I've had a long day." He walked slowly towards Lia's house. Raieyana debated with herself briefly, then got up and followed him.

Reeve flicked away his old cigarette butt and lit a new one. (The hell with trying to quit. Damn it, she couldn't even look at me. Is it because of what I did when we went to face Sephiroth, or what I did afterwards?)

"I thought you were trying to quit," Raieyana said softly.

Reeve laughed bitterly. "Yeah, so did I. What brings you to talk to this old businessman, anyway? Haven't you had enough abuse for one day? For the rest of your life? It doesn't matter anyway. I decided this hero stuff isn't right for me. I'm going to find a few of my buddies from business school, start my own company, make a million..." He took a drag. "...or more. But then, I suppose you're not the type to worry about money. You're above that. And that's why you're above me."

Raieyana swallowed. (I don't know what to say to that. I shouldn't have followed him. He's not yours anymore. You've lost him.)

He looked at her. "You know, you're going to find yourself a fine young man one day, and..."

"I thought I had," she muttered.

He continued. "I'm sorry for you. About Ishmael, that is. He would have made a damn good husband for you."

"Well, maybe I don't want a damn good husband."

"What the hell do you want, Raieyana?"

"You."

He shook his head. "You don't want me," he said, "all I'd ever do is disappoint you. All I ever have done is disappoint you. Get over it and move on."

She walked over and stood in front of him, grabbed the cigarette, and put it out. "The only thing you've done to disappoint me is sit here in the dark, smoke, and feel sorry for yourself. So I guess this will be the good-bye that you want it so much to be." She walked away.

"Raieyana."

She turned around. "Reeve, I'm not going to say good riddance, because it's not. I love you."

He smiled wryly. "I'll tell you what. Tomorrow you're going to wake up and realize how confused you were right now. And how much better off you are without me."

"If I'm better off without you, then I was better off dead. At least then I wouldn't have been alone."

"You came back because the world needs you," he said.

"No," she said, "I came back because I need you."

"The hell with me, Ray!" He picked up a glass dish from a table and threw it at the wall. It shattered into a thousand pieces. "See. I'm a horrible person. I break things."

"Next time," she said, "try breaking something that belongs to me instead of Lia. You might not know it, but you are. My heart."

"Raieyana, you don't love me." He looked at her, waiting to see her reaction.

"You can believe that if it makes it easier for you. I won't deny what you said. But I won't lie," she said, and left. It wasn't until she was in her room, with the door firmly closed behind her, that Raieyana broke down.

************

Raieyana woke up the next morning and heard voices outside her door.

"Where's Reeve?" asked Lia.

"Oh," said Tifa, "he just left a few minutes ago. Didn't say a word about where he was going, either."

"I can't wake up Ray and tell her that," said Lia.

"So don't. She'll find out sooner or later for herself."

Raieyana sat up and looked at what she was wearing. (The only time I'll ever say I was glad to have fallen asleep in my clothes. Now I don't need to bother with getting dressed. I'll just slip out the back door. I wonder which trail he took?) Raieyana decided she knew both trails well enough to go down one really fast and come up the other. She started sown the back trail, which was the easiest. Also, unbeknownst to her, it was the trail that Cloud and the others had taken the first time up to Undor-Hai. About halfway down the mountain, she finally saw Reeve.

Reeve looked behind him, but Raieyana ducked into the bushes. (What did you think? Someone was following you? After what you said to her last night, you would be a dog to think she would come after you. But I love her. Why the hell was I so damn obstinate last night? Why did I leave today?) But Reeve couldn't convince himself that he wasn't seeing a flash of blue among the bushes on the trail behind him. "Ray?" (Of course there isn't an answer. She isn't there.) "What the hell were you thinking, Reeve?" he yelled to himself out loud. "She'd just follow you after you were a total, complete asshole? She's probably still asleep. And when she finds out I'm gone, she's just going to say big fucking deal, and Cloud will be there for her and she'll be happy. And I just left her there."

Reeve sat down and put his head in his hands. Raieyana watched him, stunned. She slipped out of the bushes and came closer to where he was sitting. "You're wrong about me going to Cloud. Ruther's much better looking and he's nicer," she said.

He stood up. "Raieyana." He reached out to take her hand. She ignored him and wrapped her arms around him. Surprised, he slowly put his arms around her. "I need to apologize..." he began.

"Apologize if that's what you need to do. Just so you know, I've already forgiven you."

"You couldn't..."

"I did. And there's no use arguing with me. I've forgiven you, so come back." He shook his head.

"It's still not the life for me. Up there. I need technology. I need meat food products," he said.

"Just for a little while. I'll make the memorial. And when we get sick of Undor-Hai, I have a house in Junon. Hopefully I'm not still wanted..."

"I still want you," Reeve said.

"That's not going to help me if I get arrested..."

"I'll bust you out."

She laughed. "Can we go have breakfast first?"

He considered. "Only if you're sure you want to get stuck with me," he said.

"I followed you all the way down here," she said, "you can consider me insane if I did that not just because I loved you."

He kissed her. "Okay, I'll go back with you. I can't remember why I left in the first place." They started back up the trail. Back up the mountain, to Undor-Hai.

.

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****

The End

__

(The next chapter is the Appendices, filled with info and author notes about the story.)

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Coming Soon... Reunion

Seven years after the party paid their life insurance by destroying Mutate, a new force reunites them. Former Soldiers are getting sick, and the affliction could affect any one of them in an instant. Shinra is trying to rebuild itself, while Reeve and Reno's business, Alcor, is trying to establish itself in Junon. But no one is where they expected to be seven years ago. And every single thing is tainted with treachery: Shinra, Alcor, and even Cloud's party. As the final consequences of the Jenova experiments come to light, they realize that the only way that they can survive is to face the demons--even the self-created ones--together.


	6. The Appendices to FF7: Resurrection **...

****

FF7: Resurrection- The Appendices

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__

Introduction: Many authors add notes to their works. The appendices to Resurrection will be both author notes and poetry inspired by or dedicated to characters.

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Appendix I: Character Naming (Pronunciation), Info

*NOTE: can be read prior to the story*

_This section shall attempt to answer the ever-burning questions the reader has inside his/her head...just how the hell do you SAY Raieyana? When should I dedicate my site to Reeve in celebration of his birthday? How tall is Lia? (In this pronunciation guide, an "h" after a vowel makes the vowel sound short, and the emphasized syllable is capitalized.)_

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Name: Raieyana (ray-AH-nah) Amine

Age: 16

D.O.B.: April 21

Height: 5'4"

Bio: Young, bright (with a near-genius intellect), Raieyana is a highly skilled fighter. Created in a lab by Hojo, Raieyana is the supposed offspring of Tseng Amine and Aeris Gainsborough. Highly emotional and empathetic, however, feelings never mar her judgment in regard to important decisions.

.

Name: Reeve Jordan

Age: 26

D.O.B.: September 15

Height: 6'3"

Bio: Although a spy for Shinra (as Cait Sith), Reeve "found himself" and quit the business world. Smart, yet incredibly naive, he hasn't had much experience with pure motives or emotions, leaving him oddly childlike in some aspects. It is possible he could have been hurt deeply by something in his past and this holds him back from close relationships.

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Name: Aysta (I-stah) Laurince

Age: 16

D.O.B.: April 23

Height: 5'6"

Bio: Raieyana's "cousin," who shares many of the same gifts. She and Raieyana grew up together "like sisters." Manipulative and convincing, she must have persuaded Rufus Shinra to leave her the company somehow...

.

Name: Ishmael Deline

Age: 17

D.O.B.: February 5

Height: 5'9"

Bio: One of Aysta and Raieyana's childhood friends, Ishmael have been in love with Raieyana for years. Sweet and pure, Ishmael is the epitome of the "nice guy."

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Name: Blane Stevens

Age: 18

D.O.B.: October 29

Height: 5'10"

Bio: Big, strong, and aggressive, Blane is willing to protect his favorite childhood friend, Raieyana, even if it is from Aysta. Blane dated Raieyana at one time.

.

Name: Lia

Age: 19

D.O.B.: June 17

Height: 5'7"

Bio: Young and spritely, Lia leads the Undorians. A close fried of both Aysta and Raieyana; she finds it hard to believe Aysta would purposely go against them.

.

Name: Legolas Masterson

Age: 21

D.O.B.: March 24

Height: 5'9"

Bio: One of Blane and Ishmael's Soldier buddies, Legolas is more spiritual than he appears. Among other things, he is fiercely loyal...

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Name: Ruther (ROO-ther) Randolph

Age: 20

D.O.B.: December 12

Height: 5'8"

Bio: Tough and quiet, Ruther is definitely a person you would want on your side in battle. His best friend is Legolas, with Blane or Denmae at second.

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Name: Denmae (den-MAY) Larsen

Age: 22

D.O.B.: February 29

Height: 5'2"

Bio: As a rare female Soldier, Denmae cannot be called normal by any means. She is a real enigma, not only smart, but an asset to any fighting team. Apparently, she was in close contact with Aysta prior to her appointment as a Soldier...

.

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Appendix II: Commentary on certain ideas, themes, events, etc.

*SPOILERS: you have been warned*

_This appendix will be my thoughts on parts of the story, part by part._

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Part 1: Wisps of Memory:

To begin with, "Wisps of Memory" refers to not only the memories of Aeris that Raieyana's presence must invoke in the party members, but also Ray's thoughts of Tseng, her childhood companions, and so forth. Wisps of memory are what link this story to the game.

The reason why the prologue is in first person, from Raieyana's point of view--the original structure of the story was to be alternating between characters' points of view. A new chapter would begin when the point of view changed. This made for some short chapters, and besides, I like being able to see all the characters' thoughts when I want to.

This story originally started out as a way for me to resurrect Aeris, and I thought I could do that through the presence of her daughter. (This is the reason why I used the name Raieyana, for it was what I called Aeris when I played the game.) Perhaps Ray could resurrect her mommy. Aww. However, I soon liked Raieyana for herself, if that makes any sense, and the fic materialized from there. Honestly, after the prologue was written, Raieyana came into her own and resurrecting Aeris was thrown out the window.

As I finished the prologue...."Tseng + Aeris = interesting"

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Chapter one. "It's two days after Meteor, dammit. No, they don't get a break." Now it's time to introduce the party to new main character. Party, meet Raieyana. She already knows you because Tseng was her father. How conveeeeeeeenient...could it be...SATAN? No, just makes a little sense. Party, meet Reeve. Reeve, meet party. Reeve sees Raieyana... Just a few sparks...a little...yay. Cloud sees Raieyana leaving...tries to make sparks...aww....no. I get to introduce a new location. How? It's legendary and hidden in the mountains so no one in the "real world" can find it. And remember, in the game, whenever you find a new town, you get weapons? Yep, that's good...for me at least. "Red Moon = foreshadowing of icky things"

.

Chapter two. We meet the leader of Undor-Hai, a dear friend of our happy little Raieyana. Names are mentioned to pique interest in what's going on. Obviously Ray suspects some problems in our newly saved Planet...will we learn what these problems are? Eventually.

Aysta damns the word processing program. Why? Because MY word processing program deleted all of Part 1 and chunks of Part 2. That's correct. This part 1 you are reading is version 2!

Undor-Hai was originally going to be an Amazon community, but then I decided that I needed men there for it to be a "normal village."

We round out the minor arcana of the original characters, preceded by a "Let's Make a Deal" reference. I loved that show!

.

Chapter three. The sepulchre lance is a reference to the novel _Heart of Darkness_' biblical reference about a "whited sepulchre (tomb)" being pretty on the outside but filled with icky slimy rottenness.

Reeve is obviously taken a bit with Raieyana. We are drawn to the fact that Yuffie's annoying behavior drives Vincent so far up the wall that he thinks about her slightly too much for his own good. I'm trying to ease into things here.

Airship recovery: good way to stick Raieyana and Reeve together, even if they aren't alone.

Tea reference. Cid likes tea. Almost as much as Shinra. When Cloud isn't concerned with the destruction of tea.....hehe....

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Part 2: As the Desert Rose Blooms

This "desert rose" dealie refers to the blossoming of love in an unlikely place. Is there one or two cases of that in this part? Hmm...that's a good question.

.

Chapter four. Yuffie smacks Vincent. Vincent gets more annoyed.

Reeve does a bad, bad thing. To all of us, it's obvious that Reeve is smitten with Raieyana. Acting on these feelings makes him guilty, and for good reason (we learn he's 26!!!) I put this scene in because it shows that Raieyana has some interest in Reeve as well, no matter how mismatched they are age-wise.

The "scope quest" is introduced. For some valuable events to occur. Very valuable. Vincent must keep an eye on Yuffie at this point. Reeve and Raieyana get uncomfortably stuck together. Neither one argues with the arrangement, for to do that would mean revealing their accident.

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Chapter five. Yes you would be correct if you decided Ishmael's in love with Raieyana. Awww.

Shit. Three of our new friends are captured. This is so we can learn how invaluable someone like Denmae is to the Shinra president.

Vincent and Yuffie have an ACCIDENT and Cid sees. Enter my comic relief. :)

Nothing at Nibelheim but a missing report. At face value, Chapter five seems useless. **SEEMS**.

.

Chapter six. Reeve in dream = villain. Aeris + Sephiroth = Aysta and Raieyana = plot complications galore.

Reeve + Raieyana = love. Aww. It's about time. This is the part about _luv_ after all.

.

Chapter seven. The moral of the story is: you touch Raieyana, Reeve kills you. Any questions? Important point here for future reference is that Raieyana cannot be healed by materia, at least simple White Wind/Restore materia.

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Part 3: The Darkest Hour

_After the darkest hour, comes the dawn._ Foreshadowing of sad events. In some ways, I believe this is the climax, Part 4 the denouement, and Part 5 the resolution. Five act play theory...but is this a Shakespearean tragedy? Either that or my double-climax theory.

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Chapter eight. The need to make haste leads to a splitting up to search for materia, after all. We learn one of the white materia is missing, but not required for Aysta's plans to still be dangerous. Take note: Faith disappeared according to a translation Raieyana did.

Vincent lets go of the past, finally, by looking to the future. He really cares for Yuffie, and she begins to mature. They find the Hope materia, and it is partially symbolic for their future as a couple.

We learn Blane is not quite p.c., to say the least. He calls Yuffie "chinese chick"...._ugh_.

Ishmael, the loyal man-child devoted to his love Raieyana, needs one last straw to tip the scales. Reeve + Raieyana make Ish-y go crazy.

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Chapter nine. Raieyana doesn't want to kill her sister. Understandable. Her father is dead. Her biological father is dead (and hopefully for good). Her mother is dead. I'd be sick of my family dying too.

We learn that Blane and Ishmael are under Aysta's control. So that's what they meant by being "persuaded" by her to join Soldier.

Reeve is called a "cradle-robber" and retorts that Cloud is attracted to Raieyana because of Jenova. *HINT*

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Chapter ten. Raieyana goes to meet Aysta alone. Showing the reader her "I don't need no help" personality.

Gets surrounded by mako-filled (Jenova-filled, too?) wolves. Sounds like one wants to.....violate her somehow. Luckily, Reeve decimates them all in a fit of rage. He follows her again. The question we need to ask ourselves here is how did Reeve get to follow Raieyana without the rest of the party joining him? I suppose he slipped away from them like the first night.

Blane and Denmae are utter puppets of Aysta. Ishmael still struggles with himself, painfully. *sigh*

(Aside here: I love Ishmael. No this isn't going to be some admittance of a real person insertion. Ishmael is my favorite original character. Yes, he's kind of one-dimensional, but he goes through a lot of pain. His decision to die was the only way for this story to go. But this part ached me. I cried when I wrote this. The first few times I looked it over I could not do it without tears. However, this made me learn why Aeris had to die, and even why Nick Andros in Stephen King's _The Stand_ had to die. Because that's the way the story goes, and sometimes the author has less control over the plot than a reader would think.)

Aysta's death is anti-climactic. Why? Because Ishmael's death is the climax, or the first climax. Aysta was just a puppet herself. Her purpose was to unleash the cloud of Sephiroth's fury. She was consumed by the knowledge of her origins and maddened by it, like Sephiroth before Nibelheim went to flames. Like father, like daughter.

Reeve loves Raieyana. Raieyana hides Ishmael's wish for suicide. Vincent inquires about Ishmael because they are linked. Ishmael was the name for Vincent in one of my games. (Aysta was the name for Tifa, no offense to Tifa. Aysta was the first name for the main character in my novel, Circle of Stones.)

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Chapter eleven. Raieyana tries push Reeve away because everyone she cares for has a tendency to stop living. He persists. They make love. Raieyana thinks this "proves" Reeve's love. Other things do, she will eventually learn. (In due time...the poor girl is only 16, after all.)

Reeve = Sephiroth = confusion...okay, it's a foreshadowing...Sephiroth's spirit is free. Now who will he take over? How about the person who kills Raieyana in her premonition?

Flashback to Ishmael. He was too good for me, Raieyana says. Reeve takes offense. But Ishmael is now god or angel-like in her eyes. Reeve is her lover, and really has little to fear from the deified Ish.

Raieyana decides to prevent her own death by ditching Reeve. Admirable, I think. Her business in Junon is the business of her dead aunt. The lyrics I leave the reader with is the chorus of a song I wrote awhile back. _I can't hold your hand/As I fly away_. Foreshadowing of the inevitable.

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Part 4: A Glimpse of Truth. Cloud shows his first true motives in a long time, but we don't learn these motives until another tale. (These are explained away as Sephiroth.) Raieyana learns her destiny, and what she must do. Raieyana tries to leave words with Reeve so he does not torture himself after her death.

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Chapter twelve. Cloud's attack shows us another demonstration of regular materia having no effect on Raieyana. Perhaps it is her mako-filled bloodstream?

Raieyana's too strong for mind control. Tra la la la. I got sick of Sephy just being able to control who he wanted. So let's just say where Aysta was weak, Raieyana is strong. And since Aeris withstood Sephy... Raieyana Sephy

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Chapter thirteen. Tifa goes after Reeve for three reasons. 1) To make Cloud jealous. 2) To get back at Raieyana for getting Cloud all hot and bothered. 3) Her immaturity. (Don't worry, she'll grow up eventually.)

When Raieyana learns that her fate is to be slashed by her lover, she decides to stop trying to escape it. Like most people who learn big news, she neglects the few last details. Bad girl. You make things sound worse for yourself.

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Chapter fourteen. Absolving Reeve of any blame before his crime is committed. Raieyana knows her time is limited and she turns her concern to the state of others after the inevitable.

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Chapter fifteen. Raieyana is not perfection. Cloud wants Raieyana for her association to Aeris, shows a slight obsession on his part. The end of this chapter is the first time the phrase "it all ends" appears in the story, but it is in no case the last.

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Part 5: Final Fantasy. Destroying the illusions and coming closer to the light. The fantasy of the party is they will defeat Sephiroth with Raieyana's plan. The fantasy of Raieyana is that she will die, and in her death, defeat Sephiroth. The fantasy of Reeve is that he cannot be overcome by Sephiroth. The fantasy of Sephiroth is that he shall live again.

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Chapter sixteen. Reeve has nightmares, of Sephiroth's voice, but we don't learn much more than that. It is the beginning of control, and Reeve's fear makes his possession easier.

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Chapter seventeen. Yuffie's pregnant. It is a little soon to know, but there are reasons for that. Another hint at something? Perhaps...

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Chapter eighteen. All the people that can sense Sephiroth at the first bend have Mako in them in some way. Afterwards, Ishmael guides Raieyana to Sephiroth. A guiding spirit like Aeris had her mother.

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Chapter nineteen. Clues to Reeve's past. His mother committed suicide, and did this event cause Reeve to go into therapy?

Raieyana feels no resistance to what she feels is meant to be. She hands Reeve the sword that will kill her. Why?? She feels powerless to fate.

Raieyana is in the afterlife for a brief time, too brief to realize what the existence is. She is met by Ishmael who can only show her images from their past.

Is her resurrection the climax? If it is a climax, it is just a secondary climax. I've read a review and had some reader reactions that the Sephiroth's end (what they call the climax) is unclear. Destroying the Black Materia orb prevents **his** resurrection. Surrounding it by the white...that's so the "sacrifice" can be resurrected.

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Chapter twenty. This is just the resolution of vented frustrations.

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*Parts 4 & 5 lay the foundation for _Reunion_, with many clues to questions that will be answered in _Resurrection_'s sequel.

*The title Resurrection therefore has double meaning. The first lies in the half-successful plan to resurrect Sephiroth, the other in the actual resurrection of the sacrificed Raieyana. (Yay, she doesn't die!)

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Appendix III: Suggested listening, music that is in either theme with or partly inspirational to the story.

*_FF7: Resurrection_--The Soundtrack*

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Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith

Blues Traveler - Yours

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven

Counting Crows - Children in Bloom

Sheryl Crow - Ordinary Morning

Hootie and the Blowfish - Goodbye

Journey - Who's Crying Now

Kansas - Dust in the Wind

Sarah McLachlan - Elsewhere

R.E.M. - Try Not to Breathe

Duncan Sheik - She Runs Away

Styx - Show Me the Way

Tonic - Casual Affair

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Appendix IV: Poetry

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Raieyana

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I hear my destiny calling me

to what--I do not know

the only thing I realize

is I must go alone

to stay beside the one I love

dragging him behind

may be the one thing I want most of all

but the price could be my life

don't you see I love you

look into my eyes

and know I don't want you to be alone

with me--just to watch me die

as I write this I do cry

and I hope you understand

wherever this road's taking me

I'll want to hold your hand

but to save you I must give you up

when I haven't quite had enough

oh, sure I could lie

slink away into the night

deny your voice is calling me

back into the light

can't you see I must turn away

at the break of dawn

and end everything I've waited for

before it has begun

the only purpose I have had

destroyed my past completely

and now I'll leave it all behind

oh so indiscreetly

with everything I have lost

almost nothing have I gained

but the one thing I cherish above all

is the reason I must leave

(This is Raieyana's state of mind after leaving Reeve at the end of Part 3.)

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Cloud

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Maybe soon I'll understand

The very reason why

The good die young, souls burn eternal,

And angels have to cry

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A fleeting spirit--and it passed--

From heaven up above

It took too long to realize

She was the one I was meant to love

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And I know I'll always wonder

As surely as I breathe

The reasoning that chose how--

And when--this one had to leave

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As hell-fire lived, demons dwelt

Around this mortal life

Giving the supposed "chosen ones"

Heartache, grief, and strife

(A reflection on...who else....Aeris.)

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Tifa

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the stars were shining way back when

and are shining still right now

but everything has changed since then

and I can't explain quite how

the stars are the same, more or less

the night sky looms unaltered

but the world passed by, while they stayed

and brighter dreams have been offered

we all have a future now

when there wasn't one before

it seems as though destiny has

unlocked a tightly-shut door

concealed as we wandered

as helplessly we journeyed

seeking hope and dreams

or just what they mean

crumbling towers in the scheme of things

I'd lost you and then found you

but the vagueness lasts around you

it can still be seen--at least by me

and maybe you kept your promise

but I couldn't foresee the future then

when I asked you before

because if I had...

I would have asked for more

(Tifa thinking of Cloud.)

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Vincent

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__

forgive me

for my sin

of just watching

taking in

through my fault

(mea culpa)

I left you to be

harmed, maligned,

and suffering

from the greatest pain

now I sleep

drinking in the nightmares

of a monster's mind

for it is mine

because of my sin

letting a soul lie bleeding

yet staying idle

now it's futile to go on

what has happened

can never be undone

by anyone

yet I will try

as long as my life keeps on

to try to ease

this shameful mind

(Vincent's guilt about the events regarding Lucrecia.)

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Ishmael

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__

I see you

your face

speaking to me in the midst

of my hell

but it never goes deep enough

to the dark hole

where all of the demons dwell

how long will this misery last

I've waited for it to pass

but it lingers still with the

voices that call and

constantly bring me to my knees

can't you make it end, please?

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__

if you don't, it kills me

just the same

to stay in this world that

I've lived in much too long

in this sorry state

I pray this is my resting place

finally free from insanity

I've lost my mind--though you

still believe, intelligence

is leading me to betray you...

please, if you won't let me stay--here

it will kill me anyway

(Ishmael pleading for Raieyana to let him end his misery by staying in the Northern Crater as it collapses.)

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Appendix V: Quotations (Yay)

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I find that some lines in the story really stick out when I read it, and I just wanted to collect them here. (I already did this for Reunion, for a certain reason, and was really happy with the results.) Hey, this list isn't static either, if I get feedback about a line I need to add, just e-mail me. ^_~

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"Notice how the Turks mysteriously reappear after both Sephiroth and Meteor have been destroyed."--Yuffie, Chapter 1

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Raieyana: (What to do first? See Aunt Aula or storm the Shinra building? I'll go with door number 2.)

Soldier: I'm sorry miss, you can't come in here.

Raieyana: (What has she won? She has just won a...jack-ass. Yes, a bona fide jack-ass. Tell her what she could have had if she chose door number one, Al. _"A brand new Cadillac, and twenty-five thousand dollars in spending money for her seven-day cruise to the Bahamas..."_) "Why the hel--, I mean, why not?" (After all, I could have real, valid business here. Just because I haven't doesn't mean that I should be set apart from those who don't want to knock the whole damn thing down...)

--Chapter 2

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Cloud: Can I trade? I want the better sword.

Raieyana: I'm sorry, but no. You see--

Cloud: (with her, mockingly) The only one who knows how to use it.

--Chapter 3

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"You know, Dad, it was sooo rude to accept that materia. We are on a battle to save the planet. You told me to use my strength and determination, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, and you're sitting here all ungrateful, demanding the materia when WE AREN'T DONE YET!" --Yuffie, Chapter 4

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"If you challenge us, you will end up being the gimp." .... (That decides it. I've been hanging around Yuffie way too long.) --Vincent, Chapter 4

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"...for the love of God, don't litter." --Tifa, Chapter 4

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Raieyana: So is that our plan? Use passwords, hope they work, find our friends, hope Aysta hasn't decided to torture them to a horrific death?

Yuffie: Better be ix-nay on the horrific death part. My stomach still hasn't settled yet. That would not be a good plan.

--Chapter 7

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Reeve: Floor 35, silks and fine linen.

Cloud: What was on floor 35 when you worked at Shinra, Reeve?

Reeve: Oh, the Soldiers' quarters...

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They were greeted by ten heavily armed guards.

Reeve: ...umm, guess it still is.

--Chapter 7

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Lucrecia: I will never have peace. No, no matter what you do, what you say, Vincent, you cannot change anything for me. You couldn't change me then, and you can't change me now.

Vincent: That is my sin.

Lucrecia: No, your sin is letting the world and al it has to offer slip by while you sulk over the fact that I made a horrible mistake.

--Chapter 8

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Lucrecia: ...forget me, Vincent. I might as well be dead. I should be dead. But not you...

Vincent: Lucrecia...

Lucrecia: Go live your life, Vincent. Not for me, because there is nothing left for me. Live it for...I don't know, her. (_points to Yuffie_) But live your life, Vincent. It would be worse if I had to think I had destroyed another life besides my own.

--Chapter 8

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Blane: Eww, green blood.

Legolas: I swear, Blane, you are just like a girl.

Blane: Am not.

Legolas: Are too.

--Chapter 8

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Red XIII: My nose is drying out.

Cloud: (disgusted) What do you expect, it's a desert.

--Chapter 8

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Cloud: Oh, dig right there, Barret.

Barret: Why me?

Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII: Because you have the shovel!

--Chapter 8

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"Anyone who makes a lurid pass at you, dies. It's just that simple." --Reeve, Chapter 10

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"It's hard to get men who are really good slaves to mind control." --Aysta, Chapter 10

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"...don't worry. If Sephiroth comes back, and we still don't know where she is, I'll just kill him again." --Cloud, Chapter 12

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"A formless spirit willing me to die is one thing. A psycho Mako-enhanced human with a large sword is a totally different thing." --Raieyana, Chapter 12

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Raieyana: How much of this have you heard?

Ruther: Well, the first thing I heard was "cut in half first, ask questions later."

--Chapter 13

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"Wonder what it's like to live in a place that's boring..." --Barret, Chapter 13

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Reeve: I need a smoke. (sheepish) I'm trying to quit

Raieyana: It's nothing to be ashamed of. I've been known to have an occasional one myself.

Reeve: Really?

Raieyana: No. Just trying to make you feel better about it.

--Chapter 16

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Barret: How can I beef up for a fight without any meat?

Legolas: You could not use the term "beef." The term "bulk up" would be more appropriate. Besides, "bulk" makes you think of fiber instead of meat.

Barret: Legolas, you missed my point entirely. I want some meat with this meal!

--Chapter 17

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Tifa: I bet plants feel pain when you kill them just like animals...

Lia: I never considered that before...

Raieyana: Don't. You have to eat something Lia. If you stopped at plants, that would leave fungus, algae, and one-celled organisms, which aren't very appetizing.

--Chapter 17

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Raieyana: Do you see anything familiar?

Reeve: Nope, just the ordinary cold, dark, damp, dreary Northern Craterness.

--Chapter 18

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"Cloud, I can handle myself. No matter what is on the path ahead of us. Whatever danger lurks around the bend of that tunnel, we have to face it. If you have worries about me, worry as we head towards them. We're going to have to confront him again. Even if this time it's something we can't see, something some of us can't even feel. There will be risks. I think anyone who isn't prepared to handle them should probably go and walk back the Airship and wait for us to finish what we came to do here." --Raieyana, Chapter 18

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(It's like every word, every action, was scripted long, long ago. We're playing parts in a play where the script was written in stone. And we can't change a thing.) --Raieyana, Chapter 19

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"And I will leave your head and you will live in harmony with your 3 kids and your dog, Spot. You'll be normal. She'll be normal. No more bad dreams. I hate to burst your bubble, but nothing ever happens like that." --Sephiroth (in thought, to Reeve), Chapter 19

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"Look, I'm fine. Guess what? One of the nice things about materia. It's magic. I'm healed. And I sure as hell want to get out of this place. Can we leave instead of hanging around with our mouths hanging open? Or at least start heading towards the Airship with our mouths open?" --Raieyana, Chapter 20

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"I decided this hero stuff isn't right for me. I'm going to find a few of my buddies from business school, start my own company, make a million...or more. But then, I suppose you're not the type to worry about money. You're above that. And that's why you're above me..." --Reeve (to Raieyana), Chapter 20

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"It's still not the life for me. Up there. I need technology. I need meat food products." --Reeve, Chapter 20

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The End (for real this time)

Now go read _Reunion_. You know you want to.


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